Well it was another really great week. All week the whole mission has dedicated two hours a day to get together in our districts and zones and to do role plays. I guess we are not teaching as good as we should be. But it has been extremely helpful and we have come up with tons of different ways to teach stuff. I love it and my scripture game has gotten tons better because of it. It is super fun to be able to just whip them out. I want to get to the point where i dont have to really talk to people i can just keep pulling out scriptures and they can figure it out. That would be ideal cuz there is tons of power in scriptures. But ya now we have lots of ways to do things and we can just adapt it and do what the people need. It is great. Also seeing all my boys everyday is awesome. It has hurt our numbers a bit but not too bad. We found a couple families that we have high hopes for so hopefully it all works out. One has 20 people that live in the same house. It is insane! Only like 14 are baptism age but we want to get them all down on the same day. That would just be extremely fun so we are working hard with them. We also found a family that is small but they are just super cool. We just click i guess but i really hope they keep their commitments. If they do they will want to be baptized and we can keep seeing them. The work is great tho and we have tons of people lined up for next week so if they do what we ask them it should be a crazy month for sure! I am super excited about it the work is just great down here.

A couple super fun things happened this week. First of all on P day we had a dart war in the church. We got PVC pipe and nerf bullets and we went hard. We set up cool things like a paintball course and it was a blast. They let us keep the pipes so it has kinda been distracting during our studies this week ha but ya it was great. Also we went to eat at this place called Whataburger. It is super famous down here and is really good. But they said the record their was 15 patties of this one burger. This Elder started talking like that was nothing so with a little peer pressure we got him to try it ha. It was so funny and just a great memory. But after 12 burgers he threw up so he lost. It ruined his week too. He took some laxatives to get his system back to normal ha. Sometimes we could  be better representatives of Christ. We are workin on it

So the big thing for me this week was how the lord takes care of us when we live the commandments. We just have talked to lots of people with really tough lives, members and investigators, and this is their problem. This promise is everywhere in the scriptures! My favorite one is in Mosiah2:41. But it is everywhere and it is true. It doesnt mean that we wont go through hard times but the lord is obligated to take care of us if we do all those things he has told us to do. As a missionary we have lots more commandments and everyone stresses exact obedience because that is how you have success. It is the same in real life tho. Exact obedience is the key to having success. So look at your lives and see where you need help. Pick one thing, repent, and fix it. Then pick another thing and repeat. Thats what this life is about and you will be so blessed because of it. But i love you all so much and hope everything is good back home. Remember what is important in life! Love you all

Hola!

Hey hope everyone had a great week. Mine was pretty crazy. We had lots of meetings and stuff but it was absolutely great! So tuesday was my companions b day as well as mexicos independence day so we pretty much just chilled at ate with members all day. It was great but i felt horrible after. I am starting to not care if i get fat ha. I just want to enjoy myself then workout hard right before i get home. But we will see what happens i guess. But ya it was a really fun day. Wednesday was zone conference and it was just the best! I got to see all my bros, listen to president and all of our leaders, and feel the spirit. It really got me pumped up to do this work and to go hard. Anyway it rocked. Thursday after work and stuff we got taught how to do family history. It is crazy how much goes into that. There is so much to learn. But i am really excited about it and hopefully we will get to do some more while i am out here. You guys should look into learning how to do it it is fun and powerful. Saturday we had an adult meeting cuz it was stake conference weekend. It was really good and they talked about using technology to spread the gospel. I wish we could get on facebook and share a gospel message each week. But since i cant you all can. Go to mormonmessages.org and watch some videos. They are crazy inspirational and will really life you up. Then share them with others. You never know how far that video will go and help others. And you can share a little of your testimony as well. Sunday was crazy. We had 2 sessions of conference english and spanish and it was kinda hectic with investigators and members and stuff but it was really fun. The talks were amazing! And after we had a baptism! Her name is ximena and she is 12 but she is a stud! She never puts the BoM down she even reads it during class at school ha. And she keeps a study journal while she reads. She is just incredible and i am super proud of her. She is going to be a stud when she goes on her mission. Now we are going to try to get her family. She is pretty determined to do it. But ya it was definitely one of my favorite weeks on the mission!

This week we heard a lot about temples, family history, and sharing the gospel. First off family history is great and i hope all of you start to do it. Ask who is the head of it in your ward and have them teach you how to do it. You feel the spirit and it is really fun to do. We have a member with a computer in our area so we are going to bring everyone to their house to do it. Go to the church website and watch the videos about how it blessed some people. It is really powerful. Sharing the gospel really sunk in deep to me. The spirit jacked me about forgetting myself. I have a super strong testimony and i love the people. But what i have been missing is my focus. I think about myself sometimes like for example when i study in the mornings and stuff i study for me. I need to absolutely forget about me because it is not about me. It is about our savior and helping people find what we already have. So i have been working on that and honestly it brings so much more happiness. And as i keep doing it i will grow as well, more than i would if i focused on myself. Hopefully yo all can apply that to some part of your life. Learn to forget yourself and focus on others. Then temples. Honestly i dont know a ton about temples but i am going to make them super important in my life because of the promised blessings we have. there is no other place that we can be closer to god. If we have things going on in our lives go to the temple for guidance and relief. Make it a priority in your busy schedules. Along with all the other blessings that we get from making covenants and continually getting reminded of them. Plus there are billions of people waiting to have that work done for them. They need us and they will bless us for it. There are just so many reasons to go so please go! I love you all so much and hope you can always keep the temple and purpose of this life in perspective. Stay safe!

^ Picking ties

Buenas!

 

How is everyone doing? Gosh it was another great week here in the dirty south. So many great things happened. I forgot to bring my camera and journal tho so i will send pictures next week and hopefully i wont forget stuff in this email. So last P-day we had a tie miracle. I cant explain it it would take too long but it was an apsolute miracle and we got hooked up with some absolutely insane ties. One of mine is worth $350 ha. But it was great! No flat tires so thats good. It rains alot so we dont take the back roads anymore. But I sprained another ankle ha. It was the other one this time. I was pretty mad when it happened cuz the first one was awful. The first one is still a little swollen ha. But I prayed a lot and took care of it a lot better and it is not near as bad as the first one. It still hurts but I will be fine. I was definitely blessed cuz it should have been bad. We got caught in a monster rainstorm this week. It was a blast i loved it. I miss being cold ha so it felt so nice. We got rocked pretty hard tho thats for sure. Finally there was a tornado warning so we got to just chill inside at a members house. But it was a great time for sure. Que mas? Um we had the worst sunday you can possibly imagine ha. Well some parts were sun but it was tough. It is a super long story but we had to move our baptism to next week. The pipes got messed up cuz the rain and there was like sewer water mixed into the font water. It was nasty! And the A/C quit working so church was a sweat fest and we like run the ward and there was just tons of stuff going on that we had to take care of. It was awful lol. But esta bien it is what we are here to do. Idk what else to share with out my journal that is all i can think of right now. The work is going great. We have a lot of people who are right on the line. Like they will either get baptized and be great or let doubt creep in. If they put in the work they will get an answer and be fine so I am not worried about it.

 

So this week my big thing was our love for Jesus Christ. It is something i have been thinking a lot about. There are so many lazy members and people who will talk and talk forever but as the scripture says "...their hearts are far from me." It happens so much and we threw down with one family. Honestly it just comes down to your love for Christ. If you want to overcome an addicting grow your love of Christ. If you want to change and be better grow your love of Christ. If you want to do anything thats all your need to do. Because if that happens then all the other stuff falls into line. My love for Christ has grown so much since I have been out here and I have grown so much because of that. I love and appreciate him so much. Every bit of hope we have in life is because of him. He did absolutely everything for us and he will keep giving us more if we follow him. I would like everyone, no matter where you are in your progression, to first humble yourself. Then learn more about christ, pray to love him more, reflect on the blessings in your life, etc... As you do these things your love and appreciation for what he did for you will grow and because of that you will become such a greater person as well. Love you all and thanks for everything. I feel super supported while I am out here so thank you so much I really need it. Love you all and have a great week!

Hey everyone it was another great week!

This week has been pretty fun. First off I got my new comp and we started working together. He is the exact opposite of Elder Latu and it is kinda hard to adjust but I will be fine. His spanish is great and he is a really good missionary so I am going to learn as much as I can from him. We met like all the members this week and didnt do much finding. But we got fed like crazy! I hate how much I am forced to eat. It is all super unhealthy too. Lots of bread and coke for days! All the stuff that gets you fat and I am starting to see that happen ha. No one in this mission stays skinny so I just need to make sure I dont get too bad. One kid was good his whole mission and his last month gained 50 lbs haha. So expect a fat little Takoma when you see me. We have a baptism set up for this weekend and that will be great. One is on hold because of a family crisis so we are praying for that to work out soon no matter what that means ha. We had a miracle this week. We had ben praying for one and as we were setting our goal for the month we got a call. Someone who had already been taught and wants to be baptized moved to our area. So all we need to do is teach a couple lessons then they are good to go. If thats not a miracle idk what is. O and they speak english too lol. Lets see what else. No flat tires that is great. Idk thats all that really happened. Lots of members and food this week ha. But it has been fun and this new comp has a different way of doing things so that has been interesting.

Yesterday we taught a guy for the first time and we taught him the restoration. It was a great lesson and the spirit was there. We asked him to pray and he wouldn't. He was having a hard time talking and was tearing up. If that wasnt a clue he was feeling the spirit then the insane feeling of peace and love in the room was. We knew he was feeling it and we taught him what it meant. Hopefully it works out with him but it is so great to see the spirit working on people like that. It is such a blessing to see those things. The spirit always testifies to me that the church and what i am teaching is true. Also seeing how people change and become so much better and so eager to share this gospel. It is just the funnest thing and such a blessing to be a part of. We are having so much success here and I know it is because of the HG and I am so thankful to have that gift with me. Idk it really is just incredible. I hope all of you start to become more involved in missionary work. Think and pray about people you can share the gospel with. Invite them and the missionaries over and be a part of the work. I know I say that a million times but being a part of that and seeing that will strengthen your testimony so much and change you as a person so much as well. I love being out here. It is hard and I think about everyone probably more than I should but there is no place i would rather be and nothing more i wold rather be doing. I love you all so much and I hope you get to experience a taste of what it is like to be out here by doing this. Thanks for all the support and I will get back to you all as soon as I can. Pray always!!!

new comp

Hey whats up ya'll!

Another week jeeze these go by pretty fast. Everyone says the mission flys by and i am finally starting to believe them. Things have been great here we had another baptism on the 31st! It was a tougher one ill talk about it a bit more later. But first sad news. It was transfer day today and my dad Elder Latu left me to go up north. I got a new step dad he is with me right now we just picked him up. You would think i would be used to having step parents by now ha but i am not at all. I miss Latu so so so much! He is such a great kid i cannot wait to see him again. I havent made up my mind on this new comp but it definitely wont be anything close to like how it was with Latu and me. Idk hopefully it goes well especially cuz this transfer is one more week than normal. But the area is great and the members are awesome! I love it down here.

This last week I got to go on an exchange with my zone leader. We had such a great time and we did work. He was really impressed with my spanish and teaching skills so that was extremely comforting. I just told him i still suck the spirit just had my back that day. The next day we had a wedding. The lady we baptized had been living with a guy for 8 years but they never got married. So we went up to the court house with them this last week and got em hitched. It was fun and they were super thankful for it. I had to pay for it which kinda sucked but when i saw how happy they were i didnt care anymore it was great. Now we are working on getting her husband baptized! There was an insane storm like friday i think it was unreal! Super windy and it was raining so hard. luckily we were by a members home so we hungout there but it was shocking how crazy it was. I thought it  was a hurricane and i was so stoked, my first one. Then everyone told me it was just a little baby storm jajaja. Now i am freaking out for my first hurricane cuz that "baby storm" was intense. Since Elder Latu was leaving we just ate like crazy and said by to people the past few days. He had been here since February and everyone loves him so everyone was super sad and I am like 20 lbs larger now. It was tough saying by is the worst. I have only known the kid for 5 weeks and idk saying bye is the hardest thing about a mission i think. But i have a hard legacy to follow up with him so i will do my best. But i love you all so incredibly much! Thanks for all the mail i dont get like any free time to write but i will try to respond as fast as i can. Stay safe and pray always.