So another week has gone by. It was funny, it seems like yesterday that my companion was like "ummm, what happened to the second week of the change?" and I was like, "oh, yeah, this is crazy. Time is moving so fast!" And guess what? We just finished week three! What happened?! The thing is, that every week, my companion and I are motivating each other to work harder, faster, and more effectively with the time we have. The thing is, when we do that, the time passes even faster. I literally can´t believe how fast this week has gone. I feel like nothing has happened since the last time I wrote but then I think about all things we did day by day, I can´t believe how we were able to do all this in one week.
Even though this week didn´t have the fruits that I thought we would have, we worked harder than we have before in the mission. The thing is, we couldn´t find very many new people this week because we had so many appointments with so many people. We´re going to make some hard decisions this week, and deciding who isn´t progressing and leaving them. We literally had so many appointments this week, that we weren´t able to keep in good contact with someone who was going to get baptized this week, but because we were so busy we weren´t able to get everything ready for them. So, yeah, we had a hard lesson in learning to put priorities, but got to learn in some way, right?
Anyway, I´ve been learning a lot from Elder Gamez. I´m really lucky to have him as a companion. There are a lot of Elderes in this mission that are focused in different thing, such as leadership and stuff like that. However, he is perfectly content how he is. He says that leadership is just a bunch of responsibility and less time to focus on the people. I agree completely with his way of thinking. The thing is, I´m really happy to see other people I know getting leadership positions, both Javier and Childers are District leaders in their respective areas, and I´m so happy to hear that. Also some people that arrived at the same time I did have become senior companions, and one is District leader. I´m really happy for them, but whenever people tell me that I´m going to be raised up, too, I get nervous, and my head starts thinking in things that are not my current responsibility. Whenever I catch myself thinking like that I get angry at myself and try to think of the people I have in my area. That´s the thing that I always fall back on in the mission, when I think too much of home or whatever, I think about the people in my area.
So yeah, neither one of us likes the idea of being a leader, which is funny because Gamez is the senior companion, and he´s always asking me to make the decisions, and I´m always like "You know the area as well as I do, you tell me what you think." Anyway, I might sound a little lazy, but I really don´t like the idea of having to split my time between taking care of both the investigators and the missionaries, being that I don´t have that much time as it is for our investigators.
Anyway, that being said, Elder Gamez really shows the capacity of being a really good leader. He´s really humble, he has a lot of knowledge, and he gets along with people very well because of his patience. I really admire these qualities and I´m working on developing them more like him...not because I want to be a leader, but a better missionary.
It´s truly a great experience the mission. We learn so much from our study. We learn so much from the people we meet, even more from those we teach, and even more from our companions. I really haven´t learned this much in my life! I´m really glad for this opportunity to serve the mission, and even more so when I think about for whom I´m doing this service. I´ve said this before, but the Lord doesn´t need us to do His work, it´s a gift to work for Him in bringing blessings to His children.
Thanks for all the love and support. Truly I´m so grateful that I have help in this work, if it weren´t that way, I would only be wasting time, but as it is, with the help I have, I´m able to see miracles.
Cariños,
Elder Thomas Blackham
Showing posts with label Changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Changes. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Weekly Letter: June 22-28
Yeah, so the changes are back. We found out yesterday what´s going to happen tomorrow during the changes. Hopefully our new president arrives well. We´ve been praying and fasting for him so that he can get his visa and arrive in time (hmmm.....sound familiar?) But even without the new president, there were a lot of changes...at least in my zone, I don´t know about the others, I imagine that it was about the same, but who knows, huh?
But first things first.... this week was probably our most effective week up to date in the mission. We taught so many people, found many new investigators and had a couple baptisms this week(I attached some pictures of this baptism). That being said, Elder Javier and I have definitely learned that when things are really going well....we receive the most opposition. Truly, as Lehi said, there is opposition in all things.
Irene is still going strong....and is turning into a Mama Galleta (Literally means Cookie mom, it basically means that the missionaries can drop in whenever they want and she´ll accept them and offer them a bunch of food.) She really amazes me sometimes. She really is a testimony that the work is the Lord´s, not our own. We really didn´t do anything special with her to make her into this strong member, I know that the spirit worked this change in her and in her daughter, and I will be happy to hear in a year from now when she enters the temple.
We´ve been trying to keep contact with the Orea Zavaleta family this week, Unfortunately, we weren´t able to coordinate our efforts with Jorge Montes to have a FHE in their house, and my companion and I didn´t feel comfortable setting an appointment without his help. Unfortunately, Uriel Orea has had some misunderstanding with the Ward Mission Leader, and he´s a little distant right now, and Gaby is working hard like always, and doesn´t want to cause a rift in their relationship. Luckily, both of them still are willing to accept us in their home and are interested in listening to us and eventually being baptized, but right now, they aren´t going to church...so they weren´t baptized this week(which was their baptismal date).
I think I´ve already mentioned a bit about Mariel Graciela Sanchez, her daughter Rebeca, and her son Mauricio. The mother had been listening to the missionaries for a long time, but never had been baptized. She had some conflicts with the ward....and the bishop, and wanted to get baptized in another ward. Rebeca, on the other hand, didn´t have anything against the Ward of Plateros, and wanted to get baptized this Sunday. However, when we talked to Mariel, this week, she told us that she wanted to get baptized this week, but during the week. So we set the date for this Thursday!
It was an interesting experience, because Thursday morning, Hna. Sanchez was having second-thoughts about being baptized. We set an appointment with them that morning. (Also she had apparently not told her daughter Rebeca about the change of date and we ran into some resistance there.) I never thought for the entire world that I would commit(or recommit) someone to be baptized with these words ¨Hna Sanchez, will you be baptized at 8:00 tonight¨ However, all went well, both of them committed to be baptized that night. Elder Javier baptized the mother and I baptized Rebeca. Mauricio attended the service and liked it, but right now his focus is more on the deep doctrine(he keeps asking questions about spirits, Armegeddon and all of that), and less on finding out if the church is true. However we´re going to work harder with them, especially since, neither the daughter nor the mother showed up for their confirmation Sunday(there happened to be a World Cup Game at the same time as our meetings between Mexico and Argentina....in case you don´t know, Mexico lost 3-1, how do I know? How could I not?!) So that was a little blot on our good feelings that we had during the service on Thursday.
Another less than animating experience was Sunday, when Bety didn´t show up for her baptism. However, we were already somewhat aware that this might happen. We had an appointment on Saturday with her, she still was excited about being baptized, but all of her daughters...and her husband were against it. They all had concerns about how she was not going to be able to attend family gatherings, funerals, dance, and do a whole lot of stuff. Unfortunately for her, Bety didn´t know if that was true or not. We were able to resolve some of the doubts of one of her daughters, but her husband and other daughters weren´t there, so we recommitted her to be baptized the next day, hoping that all would go well with her husband.....apparently not. She never showed up, never answered the phone....except once when her husband answered saying that she wasn´t there and basically hung up. (Sigh) so we have a little more work with her.
However, we have been able to find a whole bunch of new investigators, one of them, Daniel Rodríguez, is actually a new/old investigator. He´s been in teaching for about a year off and on with the missionaries. We found his name and address in the area book and wrote them down a long time ago. One day when an appointment fell through, we looked up our list of people and found his name. We thought he was inactive, and when we asked him how long he´d been in the church he told us one year(thinking about how long he´s been in teaching) We then found out that he hadn´t been baptized, but still remembered a lot about our church, and understood a lot. He committed himself to be baptized in two weeks from our first visit, saying that he knew it was important to get it done soon, but wanted enough time to think it through. He has had some doubts changing his religion, but he does have an Aunt and some cousins that are members (so he has family support), and he really wants to find out if it´s true. Unfortunately, he lost his Book of Mormon, so we´re going to bring another one this Tuesday. So I´ve got good hopes for him!
Well, I´m basically our of time. I wish I could say more, but I need to tell you guys about the changes that are going to happen tomorrow. We received the news about the changes yesterday and.....Elder Javier is leaving the area. He´s going to be companions with Elder Beals(who was in the MTC with me, but we never really knew each other.) in Lermo, in the Toluca zone. So he´s leaving the Federal District, Mexico City, and going to Lermo in the State of Mexico. So he´s going be a little far away. And I´m going to get the opportunity to teach my new companion (I can´t remember his name, but he´s also a gringo) about the area of Plateros. Anyway, it will be quite the experience, it´s going to be difficult seeing my companion, trainer, and papi go, but that´s how the mission is, right? Changes happen and you´ve got to take what you got and run with it.
Anyway, that´s the news for this week. I look forward to letting you guys know what happened this week!
Thanks, like always for your prayers in my behalf.
Con Amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
But first things first.... this week was probably our most effective week up to date in the mission. We taught so many people, found many new investigators and had a couple baptisms this week(I attached some pictures of this baptism). That being said, Elder Javier and I have definitely learned that when things are really going well....we receive the most opposition. Truly, as Lehi said, there is opposition in all things.
Irene is still going strong....and is turning into a Mama Galleta (Literally means Cookie mom, it basically means that the missionaries can drop in whenever they want and she´ll accept them and offer them a bunch of food.) She really amazes me sometimes. She really is a testimony that the work is the Lord´s, not our own. We really didn´t do anything special with her to make her into this strong member, I know that the spirit worked this change in her and in her daughter, and I will be happy to hear in a year from now when she enters the temple.
We´ve been trying to keep contact with the Orea Zavaleta family this week, Unfortunately, we weren´t able to coordinate our efforts with Jorge Montes to have a FHE in their house, and my companion and I didn´t feel comfortable setting an appointment without his help. Unfortunately, Uriel Orea has had some misunderstanding with the Ward Mission Leader, and he´s a little distant right now, and Gaby is working hard like always, and doesn´t want to cause a rift in their relationship. Luckily, both of them still are willing to accept us in their home and are interested in listening to us and eventually being baptized, but right now, they aren´t going to church...so they weren´t baptized this week(which was their baptismal date).
I think I´ve already mentioned a bit about Mariel Graciela Sanchez, her daughter Rebeca, and her son Mauricio. The mother had been listening to the missionaries for a long time, but never had been baptized. She had some conflicts with the ward....and the bishop, and wanted to get baptized in another ward. Rebeca, on the other hand, didn´t have anything against the Ward of Plateros, and wanted to get baptized this Sunday. However, when we talked to Mariel, this week, she told us that she wanted to get baptized this week, but during the week. So we set the date for this Thursday!
It was an interesting experience, because Thursday morning, Hna. Sanchez was having second-thoughts about being baptized. We set an appointment with them that morning. (Also she had apparently not told her daughter Rebeca about the change of date and we ran into some resistance there.) I never thought for the entire world that I would commit(or recommit) someone to be baptized with these words ¨Hna Sanchez, will you be baptized at 8:00 tonight¨ However, all went well, both of them committed to be baptized that night. Elder Javier baptized the mother and I baptized Rebeca. Mauricio attended the service and liked it, but right now his focus is more on the deep doctrine(he keeps asking questions about spirits, Armegeddon and all of that), and less on finding out if the church is true. However we´re going to work harder with them, especially since, neither the daughter nor the mother showed up for their confirmation Sunday(there happened to be a World Cup Game at the same time as our meetings between Mexico and Argentina....in case you don´t know, Mexico lost 3-1, how do I know? How could I not?!) So that was a little blot on our good feelings that we had during the service on Thursday.
Another less than animating experience was Sunday, when Bety didn´t show up for her baptism. However, we were already somewhat aware that this might happen. We had an appointment on Saturday with her, she still was excited about being baptized, but all of her daughters...and her husband were against it. They all had concerns about how she was not going to be able to attend family gatherings, funerals, dance, and do a whole lot of stuff. Unfortunately for her, Bety didn´t know if that was true or not. We were able to resolve some of the doubts of one of her daughters, but her husband and other daughters weren´t there, so we recommitted her to be baptized the next day, hoping that all would go well with her husband.....apparently not. She never showed up, never answered the phone....except once when her husband answered saying that she wasn´t there and basically hung up. (Sigh) so we have a little more work with her.
However, we have been able to find a whole bunch of new investigators, one of them, Daniel Rodríguez, is actually a new/old investigator. He´s been in teaching for about a year off and on with the missionaries. We found his name and address in the area book and wrote them down a long time ago. One day when an appointment fell through, we looked up our list of people and found his name. We thought he was inactive, and when we asked him how long he´d been in the church he told us one year(thinking about how long he´s been in teaching) We then found out that he hadn´t been baptized, but still remembered a lot about our church, and understood a lot. He committed himself to be baptized in two weeks from our first visit, saying that he knew it was important to get it done soon, but wanted enough time to think it through. He has had some doubts changing his religion, but he does have an Aunt and some cousins that are members (so he has family support), and he really wants to find out if it´s true. Unfortunately, he lost his Book of Mormon, so we´re going to bring another one this Tuesday. So I´ve got good hopes for him!
Well, I´m basically our of time. I wish I could say more, but I need to tell you guys about the changes that are going to happen tomorrow. We received the news about the changes yesterday and.....Elder Javier is leaving the area. He´s going to be companions with Elder Beals(who was in the MTC with me, but we never really knew each other.) in Lermo, in the Toluca zone. So he´s leaving the Federal District, Mexico City, and going to Lermo in the State of Mexico. So he´s going be a little far away. And I´m going to get the opportunity to teach my new companion (I can´t remember his name, but he´s also a gringo) about the area of Plateros. Anyway, it will be quite the experience, it´s going to be difficult seeing my companion, trainer, and papi go, but that´s how the mission is, right? Changes happen and you´ve got to take what you got and run with it.
Anyway, that´s the news for this week. I look forward to letting you guys know what happened this week!
Thanks, like always for your prayers in my behalf.
Con Amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Weekly Letter: June 15-21
So, another week in Mexico. Wow! They really pass by! What really weirded me out was realizing that we have changes again in a week! Our President Fuentes leaves with this change, and we´re going to welcome President Villareal. I´m sorry to see Presidente Fuentes leave, but I´m also excited to see what this new president will bring to this mission. I´m also concerned about the changes because I don´t want to be changed, I want to stay, it looks like I probably will stay where I am....with the new mission president, he won´t make many changes unless they´re necessary(like someone who´s leaving or coming into the mission), but who knows! I will know for sure this Monday, I really hope that I get to stay in Plateros, we´re just barely starting to enjoy the fruits of labors of these two changes. It looks like Irene is only going to be the start of our investigators that are going to take a baptism.
Speaking of Irene, she´s still going strong. Her brother lives in Orange County, CA, close to the Newport Beach Temple. He was already baptized and is really strong in the gospel When we ate with her this last Sunday, he called her, and talked to each of us individually. He thanked both of us for helping his sister take a baptism. We also took her and Bety Ábrego to Visitor´s Center by the Mexico City Temple. Both of them really enjoyed the experience. Irene is already talking about going again to buy more stuff from the Distribution Center.
Her daughter really really wants to hear the message....which is one of the biggest miracles I´ve ever seen. I´ve never seen someone change like this. She wanted to come with us to the Visitor´s Center, but couldn´t because she already had family commitments. But we´re planning another trip in the coming weeks. She has to work slowly so that her husband doesn´t cut her off. He is Cristiano(I have no idea what that means other than another type of sect of Christian), and he doesn´t want her to change religions. We don´t know exactly to do, but we´re going to work little by little until her husband will allow the missionaries to visit them in their house in Puerta Grande(the neighboring area), but right now we´re just teaching her in the house of her mother, Irene.
The family Orea Zavaleta. Due to a misunderstanding between them, we weren´t able to visit them as much as we wanted to. He was a little more than annoyed with her, and wanted to put the blame on the church. We did visit him alone on Thursday, and he was really polite, he looked for opportunities to avoid listening to us, but when he actually sat down and listened to our message, he was really attentive and still wanted to be baptized. Also his grandmother´s health is improving dramatically. She actually sat in on our message, she told us she wanted to be baptized too, but wanted to learn more about our Church first. We were going to have Family night with them and the ward mission leader, but we weren´t able to pass by. I think he´s afraid of the members of the ward, but we´re working with Jorge Montes, his long-time friend who is a member of this ward, to set-up a family night with them this week. I just hope that we can work with them little by little until they can both be baptized. Unfortunately due to this difficulty, we may have to postpone their baptisms, but if all goes as previously planned, they will be baptized this Sunday with Bety Ábrego and Rebeca Sánchez.
Rebeca is the daughter of an eternal investigator. Her mother wants to get baptized but has something against this ward...and the bishop. She loves listening to us and always says she will get baptized in Mixcoac or in Las Aguilas, but in Plateros no. We´ve already taught her about the doctrine about why she needs to attend the ward that she lives in, that the bishop in Mixcoac, even though is a bishop called of God, doesn´t have the right to receive revelation for her and her family. However, she doesn´t seem to be progressing. We hope that her daughter Rebeca(who already has made friends in Plateros and wants to be baptized there) will be a help for her, and also be a stepping stone for Graciela(the mother) and Mauricio(the son of Graciela) to also take this step.
Jesús Islas also is turning out to be quite the golden investigator. He has told us that his life has visibly improved upon starting to listen to us. At first, when we started teaching him, he was uncomfortable praying, but right now his prayers our powerful. It really is something specially to hear an investigator thanking God for the missionaries. He really is feasting on the introduction and the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. At first he was a little concerned about it because it wasn´t the Bible. He told us that he felt it was good, but felt that without the Bible, something was missing. We explained that the Book of Mormon was merely another testament of Jesus Christ a complement to the Bible, not a substitute. He seemed to understand really well, and I think it resolved his concerns.
We were going to plan on having the Assistants bring their van to Plateros this Saturday or Sunday, so that Jesús, los Orea Zavalet, Graciela and her children, and Marí-Tere(the daughter of Irene) could go to the Visitors Center. But with the Changes this Tuesday, the Assistants are going to be busy, especially since one of them goes home this Monday. So, hopefully we will be able to do it, if not this week, in the weeks to come. All of them really want to make the trip, it´s just a matter of transportation. We can´t pay for the bus fare for all of them(and we don´t want them to pay for themselves), and we can´t all fit in the Hno. Zepeda´s SUV like we did this other time. But the Assistants aren´t going to be able to do it, I don´t think, so it looks like we´re going to have to wait....but I´m way excited!
I haven´t come even close to doing justice to this week, but everything has its time, and this time is almost done! Thank you, like always for your prayers and support. I hope that you all will receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for you by living His gospel!
Con amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
Speaking of Irene, she´s still going strong. Her brother lives in Orange County, CA, close to the Newport Beach Temple. He was already baptized and is really strong in the gospel When we ate with her this last Sunday, he called her, and talked to each of us individually. He thanked both of us for helping his sister take a baptism. We also took her and Bety Ábrego to Visitor´s Center by the Mexico City Temple. Both of them really enjoyed the experience. Irene is already talking about going again to buy more stuff from the Distribution Center.
Her daughter really really wants to hear the message....which is one of the biggest miracles I´ve ever seen. I´ve never seen someone change like this. She wanted to come with us to the Visitor´s Center, but couldn´t because she already had family commitments. But we´re planning another trip in the coming weeks. She has to work slowly so that her husband doesn´t cut her off. He is Cristiano(I have no idea what that means other than another type of sect of Christian), and he doesn´t want her to change religions. We don´t know exactly to do, but we´re going to work little by little until her husband will allow the missionaries to visit them in their house in Puerta Grande(the neighboring area), but right now we´re just teaching her in the house of her mother, Irene.
The family Orea Zavaleta. Due to a misunderstanding between them, we weren´t able to visit them as much as we wanted to. He was a little more than annoyed with her, and wanted to put the blame on the church. We did visit him alone on Thursday, and he was really polite, he looked for opportunities to avoid listening to us, but when he actually sat down and listened to our message, he was really attentive and still wanted to be baptized. Also his grandmother´s health is improving dramatically. She actually sat in on our message, she told us she wanted to be baptized too, but wanted to learn more about our Church first. We were going to have Family night with them and the ward mission leader, but we weren´t able to pass by. I think he´s afraid of the members of the ward, but we´re working with Jorge Montes, his long-time friend who is a member of this ward, to set-up a family night with them this week. I just hope that we can work with them little by little until they can both be baptized. Unfortunately due to this difficulty, we may have to postpone their baptisms, but if all goes as previously planned, they will be baptized this Sunday with Bety Ábrego and Rebeca Sánchez.
Rebeca is the daughter of an eternal investigator. Her mother wants to get baptized but has something against this ward...and the bishop. She loves listening to us and always says she will get baptized in Mixcoac or in Las Aguilas, but in Plateros no. We´ve already taught her about the doctrine about why she needs to attend the ward that she lives in, that the bishop in Mixcoac, even though is a bishop called of God, doesn´t have the right to receive revelation for her and her family. However, she doesn´t seem to be progressing. We hope that her daughter Rebeca(who already has made friends in Plateros and wants to be baptized there) will be a help for her, and also be a stepping stone for Graciela(the mother) and Mauricio(the son of Graciela) to also take this step.
Jesús Islas also is turning out to be quite the golden investigator. He has told us that his life has visibly improved upon starting to listen to us. At first, when we started teaching him, he was uncomfortable praying, but right now his prayers our powerful. It really is something specially to hear an investigator thanking God for the missionaries. He really is feasting on the introduction and the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. At first he was a little concerned about it because it wasn´t the Bible. He told us that he felt it was good, but felt that without the Bible, something was missing. We explained that the Book of Mormon was merely another testament of Jesus Christ a complement to the Bible, not a substitute. He seemed to understand really well, and I think it resolved his concerns.
We were going to plan on having the Assistants bring their van to Plateros this Saturday or Sunday, so that Jesús, los Orea Zavalet, Graciela and her children, and Marí-Tere(the daughter of Irene) could go to the Visitors Center. But with the Changes this Tuesday, the Assistants are going to be busy, especially since one of them goes home this Monday. So, hopefully we will be able to do it, if not this week, in the weeks to come. All of them really want to make the trip, it´s just a matter of transportation. We can´t pay for the bus fare for all of them(and we don´t want them to pay for themselves), and we can´t all fit in the Hno. Zepeda´s SUV like we did this other time. But the Assistants aren´t going to be able to do it, I don´t think, so it looks like we´re going to have to wait....but I´m way excited!
I haven´t come even close to doing justice to this week, but everything has its time, and this time is almost done! Thank you, like always for your prayers and support. I hope that you all will receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for you by living His gospel!
Con amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
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