Learning Through Teaching

Hola familia!!!

I'm sorry this is coming in so late, today's been a pretty crazy day. We got a call last night at about 11:00 that I had to be at the bus station at 6:00 in the morning to go to Monterrey to do some stuff for my visa. So we had to wake up at 4 this morning to get ready and then travel to the bus station. And then I was there all day in the immigration and mission offices. But it was cool because I got to see the missionaries in the Monterrey Mission who i'm never going to see again! kinda sad:( But then I just got back to my area about 30 minutes ago which is why this is coming in later than normal.  I also don't have a whole lot of time so sorry if I have to cut this short.

But.. i got some good news. The family got baptized yesterday!!!!:)) ahh it was soooo cool. Hermano J, his wife E, and D and A all got baptized. I had the opportunity to baptize E and A. And it is definitely something I will never forget. Practically the whole ward came to the baptism and the service was really really special. I was able to play a song on the piano for the service and the relief society sang a song as well. But the service was incredible and it's amazing to me the changes that they were able to make to come to Christ. From the first time we met them, they kept telling us how they didn't want to change religion or anything, but after that we have gotten so so close with all of them and i'm so grateful that they were able to make the decision to get baptized. Now we are just working on the two twins:)  But in teaching them I felt like they taught me so much more than I taught them. I feel like I learned so much through their example and willingness to strengthen their faith in Christ.That has been the case in almost everyone that we have taught, every person that we are able to find and teach, even just a little bit, I am able to learn something new from every single one of them. It strengthens my testimony every time i'm able to see the impact it has on other people's lives.

Well i'm sorry this letter is so short. And i'm sorry i can't reply to most of the emails this week either because i got a ton but only had time to skim through them. So i'm gonna print some off and hopefully be able to respond better next week!!! But I love you alll! Thanks for all the support! And there was a question about which address to send stuff too. And as of now all i know is that if you want to send me anything (and i know all of you do:)) to send it to the mission office address that i sent you guys last week. Have a great week everyone!!!!

Elder Bird

P.S... send me stuff!!!:)

High on Hope, Not Dope :)

Hey guys!!!

So sounds like this week has been super fun for all you guys! Grandpa's definitely the best for taking all the cousins out for the little vacation, sounds like a lot of fun! And i'm glad you guys got your free bowling passes again for the summer, that was always super fun too. Also, I know there's a bajillion birthdays in June so i just want to say one giant happy birthday to everyone who has a birthday this month:) and also happy anniversary to grandma and grandpa!!!!!! And happy father's day Dad! And I can't believe Taylor is coming home this week. I'm excited for him and for all of you guys to see him and to see how much a mission has blessed his life!

Well this week has definitely had it's ups and downs. All of our baptismal dates were either postponed or fell through. Y, who we were planning to baptize this week got back together with her old boyfriend and are living together again and so now she can't get baptized, and the family that we are teaching continues to be super awesome but they have asked for a little more time, which is all good! So we pushed back their date to this Sunday the 23rd, so we'll see what happens there. But they all went to church again yesterday and really enjoyed it once again. They also have received their answer this week that the book of mormon is true, we had some really cool experiences with them in receiving their answers with them. Also this week was the first week in over 3 years for Hermano Jose where he hasn't drunk.. dranken.. dranked (I don't remember how to conjugate drink in the past tense.. haha) ...hasn't consumed alcohol! So we celebrated on Saturday night with a Carne Asada, soooo good. And this weekend (with the assumption that he won't drink again) we are going to celebrate with Discada, which is super super good. We're also hoping it will be a celebration for their baptism which they should be having this weekend!  As of right now for sure D and A (the 2 younger ones) and E, the mom, are for sure to be baptized. And the other 3 still have a little bit of doubt, or fears about getting baptized so we will work with them this week.So we got lots of work to do with them this week. We also will be baptizing Isai this Sunday, who is the son of a less active family in the ward that we found this week. So that's pretty awesome! 

Also now that I know I will be in the Saltillo mission I have the address to the mission offices where everyone can send me lots of letters and packages and stuff. :)

MEXICO SALTILLO MISSION
CALLE TREBOL #271
ESQUINA CON TRIGO, Col. Las Praderas,
SALTILLO, COAHUILA 25295
MEX

But we got the news yesterday that President Rodriguez will be here on Sunday to introduce himself to everyone so we're super excited about that! It's sad to leave President Swapp but i'm still excited to meet President Rodriguez. All I know about him so far is that he is from Pachuca, Hidalgo here in Mexico (same place as Elder Islas) and... that's about it! Haha, but it will be great to get to know him.

We are continuing to work hard and find new people to teach, and my testimony and love for the gospel grows with every person we talk to. It's easy a lot of the time to take the gospel for granted as members our whole lives, but I invite you all to take a second just to think about what the gospel has done for you in your life, and where you would be without it, and I think you'll be able to feel a little more appreciative and grateful for the blessings that we have from having the full gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Well I love you all, and i hope you guys have a great week! Say hi to Taylor for me:) 

Elder Bird

Changing Missions

We just came back on for a quick second to let you know the news! We just got the call from the zone leaders about cambios and I am officially going to stay here in the Saltillo Mexico Mission! So no longer in Mexico Monterrey West . . .  just letting you guys know!!! love you!



Editorial note from Dad:  The Mexico Monterrey West mission was split and a new mission was created-- the Mexico Saltillo Mission.  Austin will complete his mission in the Mexico Saltillo Mission barring any unforeseen changes. 

Summer Time

Hola Familia!!

I can't believe everyone is all out of school now! And even less that Kendall is going to be a senior and Caden will be in Middle School! You guys gotta stop growing up without me! Haha, but i hope finals went alright and now you can enjoy a couple months of relaxing!! Also I would like to wish Dad a happy father's day!! I'm pretty sure it was yesterday in the U.S too but i can't remember.. haha. 

Well, this week has been an incredible testimony builder to me. We met one of the most amazing families ever on Tuesday, the G family. They were a reference from an hermano from a different ward but we went to visit them and at first they were really hesitant to let us in and seemed pretty nervous, but once we started teaching them the spirit was sooo strong and their faith has grown exponentially since we met. There are 6 of them, the parents, 3 daughters and a son. And we have met with them everyday since Tuesday, they went to an activity in the church on Friday and then church on Sunday and already they all believe everything and have been so willing to change everything to come closer to Christ. It's been such a testimony builder to me to see what just 5 days with the gospel has done to their life, it really has fixed almost every problem they were having and they tell us all the time how much happier they have been. Honestly I can't imagine meeting a better family to teach. But tonight are cambios, and we don't know if we will be able to be here to baptize them or not... ahh. We're super nervous because we wanna stay to continue teaching them! Our plan right now is to baptize all 6 of them this Sunday, along with another sister we are teaching. So if everything works out like we hope, we will have 7 baptisms this Sunday! It's so cool! We're so excited to continue working with everyone this week (if we don't get changed) and to hopefully baptize them this Sunday. But through these people that we have met it has been able to help my testimony grow so much to see the changes and the happiness it has brought them. So, this week has been super cool to say the least:) 

Today was another fun P-day, because we went to the church to play basketball and soccer and then to Peter Piper Pizza because Elder Angeles is leaving tomorrow! Also, Taylor is coming home in a week!!! I seriously can't believe it, I feel like he just left yesterday! But his example in serving a faithful full 2 year mission has been such an example to me and a motivation to be better, along with all the other RM´s in the family:) 

Well, also as of this very moment i still have no clue what mission i will be in! But tonight we will be getting the calls to let us now. It's pretty nerve wracking and either way it'll be a little bittersweet to either leave my area and everyone here, or all the missionaries in the Mission Monterrey west and President and Sister Swapp. But who knows what will happen! I will probably be able to get on later this week to let you guys know.

Well, this week I have found that there are few things that can bring you greater happiness than service. We have really made an effort this week to look for every opportunity to serve, and we have been so blessed because of it to find people to teach. So I invite you guys to look for ways to serve the people around you, even if it seems like something little, you never know the effect it might have on them. Lose yourself in service!!!:)

I love you guys!!! And i'm excited for the Bakers that they will be able to see Taylor in just a few days! Hope everyone has a great week:)

Elder Bird

Lots of Surprises

Hola Familia!!!

First off, congratulations Amy and Andy!!!!!!! I have seen the pictures and she is so cute!!! Super happy for you guys! Second off, I can't believe that Taylor is coming home in a few weeks, how crazy is that! But i bet you guys are super super excited to see him:)

Well, So as far as me.. oiy. This week has been crazy. It's felt like a month long. We've had soo omuch to do. And there cambios within cambios so I now have a new companion! Elder Peralta from Peru. He's got 20 months in the mission and is really cool. But the changes were out of nowhere and we didn't know until Tuesday night when the Presidents called. So Elder Islas had to pack all of his stuff that night and then Wednesday morning we left from the Bus station at 7 in the morning to travel to Nueva Rosita, which is about 6 hours away. So we traveled there, and then we got there and got off the bus and almost immediately i had to leave again to return. So Elder Islas and I said goodbye and we were back in the bus back to Saltillo for 6 hours. It was really hard to leave Elder Islas! we had become really good friends, but, the mission is full of goodbyes. So i guess i gotta get used to it. Haha,but i was in the bus ALLLL day and the movie `The Smurfs`literally played 5 times straight. I think i can quote the entire thing now. But this week we've taught sooo many lessons and talked to sooo many people, i'm exhausted. But it's been good. unfortunately G has disappeared and we haven't been able to find him all week, which is a huge bummer :/ But we had a super powerful experience this week on Saturday night. We had a reference from another ward of a guy who lives in our area, but the only time he was available was at 9:00 at night. So we went to his house but he wasn't there, but outside his neighbors house were a bunch of drunk people, and they started talking to us. It was pretty funny, they could barely talk at all. But we talked to them for a little bit and then the other guy got to his house. So we knocked on his door and he answered shirtless and invited us in. So we went in and there was trash everywhere and there was barely any light at all. But we started talking to him and right away we could tell something was wrong. Then about 3 minutes into the conversation he started telling us alllll of his problems, all of his mistakes. He told us he suffers from depression and he often doesn't want to be alive. But we were able to calm him down and have a super super powerful lesson with him and explain to him the importance of the atonement and repentance. And at the end and he started to cry and thanked us for coming and that he knows that we were sent by God because he had plans to kill himself that night. It was such a powerful experience! Probably the most powerful i've had on my mission so far. It definitely has made all the hard times worth it just for this one experience. We are actually going to go visit him again tonight, so hopefully we have some luck. Umm, I've also been pretty sick this week, everything i eat makes my stomach hurt and i've had problems with that all week. So i was telling my ward mission leader about it while we were eating at his house and he told me about this member who could help me. so we went with her the next day and it was kinda weird. Haha, she says she can see all the sickness and problems through the eye, so she took a picture of my eye with this special camera and then started telling me alll these things i had, not just physical, but emotional and mental stuff too. It was like she was looking into my soul! Haha, it was so weird Half the stuff wasn't really true what she said i had but oh well. She gave me some medicine and today i feel a lot better, which is good. 

Well, i don't have too much time but i heard about the news that Kevin took a job at Beverly!!! That's sooooo cool!!!!! He'll be there with Audrey! So that means he'll be living in Plano. wooh!! congrats Kevin! But anyways, i love you guys! and i can't believe you will all be finishing school this week and starting your summer, but good luck on finals and have a great week:)

Elder Bird

Speedy Elder Bird (or Gonzalez)

It has Rained a Little

High Quality Roofing -- Not

Elder Holland!!!

Hola Familia!!! 

So it sounds like you guys have had a super fun week with all the family and having Kevin and Cortney in town! Hopefully Kevin gets the job in PISD so we can all party all the time! But that's great that you guys have all been able to hang out this week!

Oh man, so I'm just going to tell you guys right now that there's no way I will be able to explain how amazing Elder Holland was, but I will definitely do my best :)

So we were SOOO lucky to be able to have him come to our zone, so we only had to travel 15 minutes from our house to the church, but other missionaries had to travel up to 10 hours to get there! But we arrived at the church at about 8:00, and already all the missionaries from the whole mission were there outside talking. So I went and found Elders Keenan, Norseth, and Shaum, and it was super cool to talk to them all and see them again!! We realized that we were all 4 shades darker than we were when we left the MTC. Haha, so we talked for a little bit, and then President Swapp got us all organized by zone and we went into the chapel to get seated, and my zone got the front row seats. How lucky are we right? So we all sat down and sang some hymns while we were waiting for him to get there. And then President Swapp told us that he was in the church and so they went out to greet him and we all waited, and then he walked in!!  We all stood up and watched an apostle walk right by us. He instantly brought such a great spirit to the room. Then we all got the chance to go up to him and shake his hand. Soo cool! I was freaking out a little bit on the inside, haha. But I went up and shook his hand (needless to say I haven't washed that hand since:)) and said how great it was to meet him and he said "Great to meet you Elder Bird, thank you for your work". Cool huh? Also President Johnson was there with his wife, who is the area president in Mexico. So after we all got back in our seats we started the conference. First Hermana Swapp gave her testimony about faith, which was super strong. Then President Swapp got up and talked about the importance of inviting ALL to Christ, also very awesome. Then Sister and President Johnson got up and gave their talks about the importance of living the gospel, living what you preach. And the power of the spirit. All of them brought a really strong spirit into the meeting before Elder Holland spoke. Then, Elder Holland got up and spoke! Oh my goodness... if you thought his talks were strong through the t.v or computer... it was incredible. He is such an amazing speaker, it blew us all away. He started off talking about how his mission did more to change his life than any other young man who served a mission, and he bore his testimony right away about how much his mission meant to him, and why it meant so much to him. He told us that he wants us to love EVERY moment of the mission, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because you will never have better opportunities to learn and to grow than in these 2 years, or 18 months, on a mission. He said it's sad to him to see missionaries who stop progressing, who level off after their initial excitement, because the mission really is such an incredible opportunity. And he said the one thing that breaks his heart more than anything in the world, is to see a returned missionary go inactive. It was incredible to see how passionate he was about this, and he said if we go inactive he was going to hunt us down. Haha, so just keep that in mind returned missionaries :) He then started to talk about the importance of being your best convert, and if you can just convert that one person (yourself) then what a successful mission you have served. He taught us the importance of living the things you teach will all your heart, and that we can't teach an investigator anything that we aren't willing to live for the rest of our life. Then he started to talk about how much he loves the book of mormon and the importance of it in our faith. I honestly have never heard a more powerful testimony on the Book of Mormon than what he gave to us. He finished his talk bearing this testimony, along with his testimony of christ, and how he KNOWS without a doubt that Christ lives and is there for us. It was SOOOO powerful. And he ended with telling us how much he loves us and appreciates the sacrifice we are making to the Lord and how we will be blessed beyond what we can imagine if we serve a faithful mission. Ahh, guys I can't even tell you how incredible it was to  hear him speak in person. It's definitely safe to say that he motivated us ALL to be better missionaries.

So since he talked I have really been making more of an effort to be the best missionary I can be, and to talk to EVERYONE, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. And we have already seen the results! On Thursday we met a really really cool family who we were able to teach a little bit and they already have a desire to be baptized! So we are going to try to prepare them and get them ready to baptize in 2 sundays, the last week of the cambio. We also had G come with us to church yesterday and he is very excited to be baptized and we have a service for him on Sunday, so we are going to do everything to make sure we can baptize him next week. We're still also working with A a little bit but he hasn't been progressing as much as we hoped so we have had to make the decision of whether to keep teaching him or find someone else, which has been really hard. Because he's really cool! But, maybe he's just not ready. On Wednesday I went on splits with Elder Canul (the Zone Leader) in his area, which is the centro of Saltillo. It`s a pretty rough area and I encountered more drunks and druggies on Wednesday than i have in all my time in my area, But we met some cool people for him and his companion to teach after I left. On Saturday, Fundadores had a baptism for 2 people in their area that we had  been able to teach and prepare a little bit on Thursday with them, and that was way cool! 

Well, we're continuing to work hard in our area, I'm continuing to get tanner, I'm continuing to forget english, haha. Just kidding. But only kinda. It really is getting hard for me now to only speak in English, which is a super good sign! The few times a week i get to speak in english i find myself speaking in spanish half the time just out of habit, which is pretty cool! But this week has been incredible because of the spirit that Elder Holland brought to us. And as far as the new mission, I still know nothing. I'm guessing at this point that we won't know which mission we will be in until the night of cambios. But anyways, i'll keep you guys in the loop. Love you guys!!!! Study hard and finish out the school year strong!! Miss you! Have a great week :)

Elder Bird

Work, Work, Work

Hey guys!!!! So first off... Happy Anniversary mom and dad!!!!!!! Are you surprised that i actually remembered? Because I am too... haha.  But anyways, love you guys. happy 21st anniversary;) and congratulations to the newlyweds!!!! I heard it was a party in Arizona! Wish i coulda been there!

So this week we have been allllll over the place. It's been super busy. On Tuesday we took a kid out from our ward who is preparing for a mission and he was with us all day, which was way cool! We had a lot of cool experiences with him and were able to get him excited to put in his papers to serve a mission. It was also my worst experience with diarrhea on the mission... hahaaa. it was awful. as soon as we got into the house of the investigator it hit me and we had to leave and then run from store to store looking for a bathroom. So Elder Islas and Isaac (the kid in our ward) were laughing at me the entire time, but it was awful!!!!!! (you don't have to put that in the blog if you don't want to. haha, or you can if you want. whatever's fine with me;) Also it rained all night Monday and then all day Tuesday, which was HORRIBLE. I would much rather have it be sunny then rainy and wet. All the streets turned into rivers and we were soaking wet all day, which was super dumb! But then on Wednesday we had our interviews with President Swapp! Which was superrrrrr great. He has such a strong spirit and he was able to give me a lot of great advice to help me become a better missionary. It also might be the only interview I have with him depending on what mission I end up in since the mission is changing this cambio. Then on Wednesday night and Thursday we went on splits with the Elders in Fundadores, so I was with Elder Chable in my area. Which was kinda fun, he has a really unique teaching style so it was cool to learn from him. And we were able to meet Guillermo, who is a 14 year old cousin of some members in the ward of Elder Chable. And he wants to be baptized! So we are working with him and are planning to baptize him this Sunday. Way exciting.Yesterday was missionary Sunday in our ward and so they asked me to play a song for sacrament meeting, so i played I know my Redeemer Lives (the really cool EFY version) and that was way cool! I was pretty nervous I was going to mess up or the pages were going to fall or something, but nope! all good;) Today was way fun too, we went to Peter Piper Pizza for Elder Watt's birthday, all you can eat Pizza! Soo good. ALMOST as good as Cicis:) 

Funny story of the week, we went to the church to practice my song on Saturday night and there were people in there cleaning it. And we have keys to the church so we weren't worried but they left and locked up the church and we didn't finish until about an hour later so we went to leave.. and we were locked in! and our keys wouldn't work! And the doors are different here so if it's locked, then you can't leave or get in. So we were locked in the church! Haha, ahh so we called the other Elders and had to wait almost 2 hours to have them come save us.... embarassing right? 

So guess who comes tomorrow... Jeffrey R. Holland!!! wooh! we're soooooo excited! The whole mission is coming down to Saltillo to see him speak tomorrow, and some missionaries have to leave at midnight or 1 in the morning to make it but luckily we are only 20 minutes away from the church by Taxi. So we're super excited, i'll also get to see the Elders from my MTC district too which will be sweet!!! 

Well, that's all i got for you guys this week! Love you all! hope you have a great week! i'll be sure to take lots of notes tomorrow so i can tell you guys all about Elder Holland. Love you:)

Elder Bird

Excited for Mother's Day

Hola familia!!!!

First off I want to say how excited I am to talk to you guys this week!!! I can not wait! I just got the newsletter from the mission offices and they said we can either talk the 10th (which is Mother's day in Mexico) or the 12th, which is Mothers day there. So i'm not exactly sure what Elder Islas wants to do but I'm guessing that the 12th, or Sunday, would be best for all of us, but let me know which day and at what time will work best for you guys to have everyone there and i will be able to check my email again in a couple days just to verify when will work best, and we are going  to do it through skype because that is way better than just over the phone so let me know in an email as soon as possible! and we have permission to check the email once again before then just to make sure everything is set and we know what time we can do it and all that stuff. so, yep! i'm way excited:)

Hmm, so this week has been another crazy one. So much has happened, so i will try to remember everything, but if not   I can just tell you when we talk this week right? :) So first off, just like you guys, the weather has been crazy here. We seriously had to switch from sweaters to short sleeves almost everyday. Elder Islas is a little sick because of all the changes in temperature. but as far as i know, from now on it's just going to be super hot all the time. yayyyy... haha, well  this week was the beginning of the new cambio, and i'm still with Elder Islas, so that didn't change, but he got called as District Leader! wooh! it's way cool, he's been doing a great job. And i've actually had the chance to do a lot of the work, like 3 or 4 nights of the week i will be the one calling all the elders in the district and the zone leaders to pass all the numbers for the day, which is cool! it gives me chances to see what the leaders have to do. So that's been pretty cool. Elder Hernandez finished his mission this week and Elder Vargas left so we have 2 new elders in the district, Elder Angeles, who finishes his mission after this cambio, and the Elder he is training, another Elder Vargas. And they actually moved in with us because their house was in horrible condition so now we have 4 elders in our house, which is kinda cool.

So this weekend the Stake had a mission conference. So we were there almost all Friday and Saturday. But it was wayyyy cool! All the prospective missionaries in the Stake came, along with any other member that wanted to come. And each one of the Elders in the stake (10 of us) had the chance to train them in a part of PMG, which was pretty cool. Friday night we had an old mission president come and speak with everyone, and there were some videos and a few other speakers and then all the Elders sang a song, and they asked me to play the piano. Right before we sang... haha. It was to the tune of 'If you could Hie to kolob´ which i have never played, but it went pretty well! And now the members in the ward are asking me to play during sacrament meeting, so who knows! Then Saturday we each trained all the members there and then we each went out with a group of prospective Elders to contact in the street for about 30 minutes, at first everyone was really hesitant to talk to people but at the end my group didn't want to stop talking to people! It was kinda weird to think that that was me a few months ago. But it was really cool to get people excited to serve a mission and it made me realize how great serving a mission really is. Then on Saturday night we had to do Divisions because Elder Islas had to do a baptismal interview, so i went with Elder Knight in my area. So i was the senior companion! I was pretty nervous at first, because both of us aren't too great in Spanish yet (he only has one more cambio than i do), but we went to visit A, the kid who we are teaching. And it was amazing how comfortable i felt doing  all the talking and teaching! I was so nervous when we got there but everything came so much easier than i expected and we were able to have a really powerful lesson. It was incredible to me to feel the spirit work through me to testify the truth to him. Now we have a fecha meta for his baptism for the 19th. So we're going to see him a lot this week and next to make sure everything works out! 

Being a missionary has helped me realize how important the gospel is to me. It seems like every time i am able to testify or bear my testimony to someone, i realize just how much it means to me to have a testimony. And i have been able to understand the principle of faith so much more. With A on Saturday we talked about Alma 32  because he is struggling with the concept of Faith, and why we need to believe in God. But it says how to have faith you don't need to have a perfect knowledge, but rather it is a hope for things that we can't see, and how that little by little our faith will grow into a knowledge. My faith in the gospel and in the Savior have grown so much in these past few months and it is such a blessing to be able to testify to people that I believe that the gospel is true, and that Christ is our savior. It brings a kind of happiness and peace that only comes through the gospel.

Also congratulations Mark and Stevie on the baby! She's way cute! Crazy to think she'll already be walking and talking by the time i meet her. Umm, i also forgot to congratulate Caden last week for his championship in soccer, glad you could learn from the best:) and Grant too on his cross country meet! That is something you did NOT learn from me, i can't remember the last time i was actually in shape. haha, also that's way cool that Elder Christofferson was able to come talk to you guys. I'm sure the spirit was super strong and what a blessing it is to be able to listen to apostles in person, i am SUPER stoked to have Elder Holland talk to us in a few weeks. 

Well, I am beyond excited to talk to you guys this week, it's great to hear that everything is going well with everyone. i love you all and miss you!!

Elder Bird

Pictures for the Week

Beautiful Sunset in Saragosa

Cleaning the Font for Baptismal Service

First Person I Was Blessed to Teach Who Was Baptized

Second Convert Baptism in the Mission (Girl on the Far Right) 

Incredible Week :)

Hola Familia!

So this week has honestly been an incredible testimony builder to me. So as I mentioned last week we have been working with M, and we visited her 3 or 4 time this week to prepare her for baptism.  Yesterday we were able to baptize her! My first convert! And she chose me to baptize her, which was sooo cool! I was really nervous i would mess up the prayer but luckily I didn't, and i got her name right too! haha, but the whole process and her progress have truly been incredible.  It was truly incredible to me to see the spirit work through us to be able to change her heart, and I know that God prepared her for us to find to bring into the gospel. We also were able to baptize D, who is the daughter of a less active sister in the ward. So that was really cool experience. I willl send you guys the pictures:)

So apart from that, this week we have continued working with A, and we feel like he could be ready pretty soon as well. So we're really excited! We also have been working with another family this week who we're pretty excited about too.  Hopefully we will be able to continue working with them. 

Today is the end of my first cambio here in Mexico, it's crazy how fast the time has gone by. More than likely I will still be with Elder Islas in this area because I am still being trained, but we will find out for sure tonight when the leaders call us. Elder Hernandez went back to his area after the zone meeting on Tuesday so we have been back to just a companionship this week, which has been kinda nice to just be able to work in our area. 

Strangely enough, it's actually been pretty cold this week! We've had to wear our sweaters a few days and it has rained a few days too which we DESPERATELY needed because it is drier than dry here.  

So looking back at when I first got to Mexico, I can say that my Spanish has definitely improved. Thank goodness. Haha, I think I told you guys already but i carry around a little notepad with me and everytime i hear a word i don't know or see something i don't know how to say, i write it down. And i counted last night and there is over 450 words already! Haha, it's crazy to realize how little I really know. But that little notebook has helped me SOOOO much and I have had many people tell me how impressed they are with how fast my Spanish has progressed. But really, I'm still horrible at it. Haha, but i'm motivated to get better (so I can talk to Dad in Spanish in a few weeks:) 

Thank you guys for all the support and emails! 

Elder Bird

Crazy Week

Oh man, this week has been a crazy one. We've had cita after cita and walked more this week than i think in the whole 5 weeks I've been here combined. BUT it's been good! Today we had another zone activity and we went to the centro in Saltillo and checked out a few markets and then went to this Gordita buffet, which was a lot of fun. BUT a lot of walking for a P-day. 

Haha, but good news this week. We have a fecha fija with M, who is the mom of a 15 year old young man in the ward. She is planning to get baptize on Sunday!  Wooh!  So we're going to do everything we can this week to make sure it doesn't fall through. We first began teaching her last week and she was really hesitant because her entire family is Catholic and she thinks getting baptized will cause problems in the family, but she believes everything we have taught her. I have slowly been able to contribute more and more in lessons and the feeling after teaching someone and seeing them change and being able to bear your testimony to them is unbelievable. It makes me so much more motivated to be a better missionary and find more people to teach. We have also been working with A, who is the son of a newly converted family. He is really cool and really funny but is struggling with the concept of God because he says he is happy where he is in his life and doesn't see the point of changing. But all in all we have had some really good lessons with him and he is always really excited to have us come back. Something that I've been thinking about a lot this week is the WHY behind the gospel, why we need it, why we should make the effort to live it, because I have heard that a lot with people we have talked to. But the reason the gospel is so great is because it's ONLY purpose is to make us happy. Because God's plan is one of happiness. Something we have been talking to A about this week is that just because God's plan is one of happiness doesn't mean we won't have trials, everyone has trials. We need trials to grow. Sometimes the blessing that God gives us IS the trial, which isn't always easy to accept. But with the gospel we can better know how to face these trials and overcome them with more hope and strength. 

We've gotten a ton of references this week but haven't had too much luck in finding many of them, but we have this week planned out to revisit all of them and hopefully we will have luck with some of them. The problem with our area is it is HUGEE!! To walk from end to end would take about an hour and a half. So we really have to plan in detail with where we are going to work each day so we don't spend most of our day just walking.

Elder Vargas is still in recovery in Monterrey so Elder Hernandez has been with us all week again in a trio, which has been a lot of fun, and pretty interesting to work with 2 other missionaries. He literally only has 8 days left of his mission and he actually completed his 2 years yesterday. So he's got lots of experience. I feel pretty lucky to have experienced what i already have in the mission field. Like i told you guys at the beginning this area had been closed for many months so nobody knew we were coming and we had to start completely from scratch, but it has been really good for me to see how it works. And also being in a trio has given me the opportunity to learn from 2 experienced missionaries how to teach and how to work more effectively.  

So we got some BIG news in this last week's newsletter... Jeffrey R. Holland is coming to the mission to speak to us!!!!! wooh!!!!! I am SOO excited! He comes at the end of May. So we're way stoked for that. Also, they are allowing American sisters to come to the mission now so in not too long we should have American sisters here, which should be pretty cool!

I can't believe Lori, Doug and Grandpa are in the Congo! That sounds way fun! I read the letter and it sounds like they're having a great time. Also, way cool that Grandma Chapple could come into town this week! It makes me miss our usual Pei Wei trip! ha ha.  It sounds like you guys had a busy but fun week and that Grant and Caden were studs again in their basketball games . . . No surprise. Wow, and Kendall had her Spring show! wish I could have seen it, but i'm sure she did great. And Kendall be sure to tell Audrey that i'm NOT messing up in the mission :) haha, she makes me laugh. it was great to hear from you guys this week! I forgot my cable for the camera so i don't have pictures this week but that just means you will be getting more next week! 

Love you guys and miss you!

Barren wastelands that we walk through in
between neighborhoods

Trash EVERYWHERE. It's basically a giant dump.

The night sky here is always super cool looking!

Just doing some wash.

Almost a month

So i realize that today i have been in Mexico for exactly 4 weeks! Almost one month to the day. Sooo crazy! This week has been super eventful and way busy, but it has been another good one:) So on Tuesday we had zone conference, and the AP's and President and Sister Swapp came and we had some trainings and practices and lots of food! It was really cool and super helpful, the big theme that President Swapp talked about was gratitude, which wasn't what I was expecting at all. But it made me realize how important gratitude really is. He told the story of Jesus and the 10 lepers (idk if i spelled that right, everything on this computer is in Spanish so it says i spell every word wrong), but out of the 10 lepers only one came back to thank Christ, and for that he was blessed. It's so easy to take things for granted and to not give thanks where it's due, but it's so important! But zone conference lasted until 5 or 6 so we didn't have too much time to work but we were able to visit some references and set up some dates throughout the week! 

Wednesday though, oh man. EVERYTHING went wrong for the first half of the day! So first the family we were supposed to eat with called at like 6:15 in the morning to cancel on us, and then we had a scheduled meeting with our ward mission leader, who lives about 45 minutes away at noon, and when we got there he wasn't there! So we waited for a while with no luck and decided to go get something to eat. We've literally been trying to eat Chinese food since the day we got here so we decided to walk the 45 minutes back to the Chinese restaurant and of course... it was closed! So then we were right by a Soriana, which is basically a Walmart, and they have a cafe in there so we decided to eat in there but we can't go in with our backpacks so we have to put them in a locker at the front of the store but you need a 5 peso coin piece to use the locker and we only had 1,2, and 10 piece... haha. so we asked around for a good 30 minutes before we found someone with a 5 coin piece so we could put away our backpacks so we could finally eat. It was kinda funny how bad our luck was. BUT later that day we met M.! Who has been our most successful investigator this week. She is the mom of a 15 year old in the ward named Enrique. So we met with her on Wednesday and taught her for about an hour and she agreed to come to church this week! And this week was fast and testimony meeting and Enrique bore his testimony and it was SUPER powerful and she came up to us after telling us that she felt the spirit and wants to be baptized. Wooh! so as of now our plan is to meet with her Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday so that we will have everything ready by Sunday to baptize her. Her one challenge right now is that she is afraid to get baptized because her entire family is very catholic. But we have been working with her and she has accepted everything we have taught her. So that's been way cool! We also had some luck with another investigator this week, Alejandro, who is the 19 year old son of a less active family. But he actually contacted us in the store last P-Day and asked us to visit him so we did on.. Thursday and we have plans to visit him again this week! He is really interested in everything and seemed really excited for us to come back. So as of now those are our 2 most promising investigators, but i will bring more news next week :) 

So since... Thursday we have actually been in a trio with Elder Hernandez! His companion, Elder Vargas, had to get surgery and so is in the hospital in Monterrey until Thursday, so Elder Hernandez has been with us for a few days. And it's been fun! He's the goofiest guy I've ever met and we've had some crazy stories with him the last few days. and he only has...15 days left on his mission so he has a lot of good tips. But i think he is going with other Elders in our district tomorrow so we will be back to just me and Elder Islas. Some good news of the week, we finally got gas! A hermano who lives across the street took us to refill our gas tank and so we finally have hot water. BUT, the problem is with no gas, we have freezing cold gas. If the gas is on for more than 2 days then the water is SUPER hot, and you can't adjust the temperature or anything. So we have to switch the gas on and off every other day so we don't freeze/burn. But having warm water has been way nice.

So at the Zone conference they passed out Liahonas from the past few months for us to have in the house, and luckily there were some in English! So I got the last conference session edition and have been reading all the talks, and there was part of  a talk by.. i don't remember. haha, i didn't write down the name. But he said this: ´´Conversion is not a onetime event, it is a lifelong quest to become more like the Savior. To know is not enough, to be truly ´converted´ requires us to DO and to BECOME´´ And i've been thinking a lot about that this week. one of the big problems in this area is the retention of the members of the church, they will be baptized but then become inactive shortly thereafter. And all the inactive members that we have visited say almost the exact same thing: that they have a testimony of the gospel, but it's just hard to go to church. And I have been thinking a lot about that, because I have always learned the importance of gaining a testimony. Which, obviously is super important. Your testimony should be your most precious possession. BUT, it's what you do with that testimony that matters. Become truly converted to the gospel means acting on that faith. In James 2:17-18 it talks about faith, without works is dead. Faith is important, and it's essential that we have it, but if we don't act according to the teachings of Christ with that faith that we have, then our faith is "dead". A scripture I have come to love so far in the mission is Alma 37:6-7, by small things are great things come to pass. And it's the little things we do, the little actions of faith, that will make a huge difference in the long run. Most of the time we aren't going to have the results that we want without doing the little things. And it's through these little things that we do to act on our faith that will help us become truly converted unto Christ, and this is a message that we have been teaching to our investigators, and I think it's one that as lifetime members of the church we sometimes forget. So, I invite you guys to try to concentrate on what little things you can do to strengthen your faith in Christ and to become more converted to Him. I Love you guys! miss you! Also, I'm excited to see pictures of Lori and Doug and Grandpa's trip to Africa! I'm kinda jealous! and when is Ebranezra due? and when is Kevin and Courtney's wedding again?! I forget these things! I love you guys! have a great week :)

 

 

Elder Bird

Infinite Potential

Hola familia!!!!

So this week has been really, really great. It's been super busy, but super productive as well. As of now we have 14 potential investigators, which is sooooo great! We went from 0 to 14 in one week. Which is way cool. We're really excited to work this week. I will hopefully be bringing news of baptismal dates in next week's email:) One of the people we met this week was M. G., who was a street contact. We started talking to him and he literally wanted to argue with everything we said. He didn't believe anything and he was asking really weird questions to throw us off, but Elder Islas did a really good job of just keeping it simple. After about 30 minutes we just bore our testimonies and left, and he actually asked us to come back! So, we'll see how that goes.

So some interesting stories from this week, on Tuesday they turned off our water!  So.. we didn't have water for a day and a half. So to say we smelled bad would be an understatement... haha but we paid the bill on Monday so I guess it just took time to process it? I don't really know, but we now have water again thank goodness. Also there have been some crazy things going on this week.  It hasn't rained since i got here and my area is literally the definition of a desert.  Last night there was a giant fire in the hills/small mountains by our house that wasn't put out until this morning. So that was kinda scary, and then today on our way here to the Ciber there was a giant cloud of dust that had spiraled up and looked kinda like a tornado.  I tried to get a picture but i couldn't get to my camera fast enough. We also indirectly killed a kitten this week... it was sitting on the sidewalk outside the gate of a house and we heard the rest of them inside the gate so we thought we'd try to help and put it back in the gate. We put it in the little crack between the gate and the house and we turned around for 2 seconds and next thing we know it had walked into the street and we watched it get run over... way sad. i don't even like cats and it was really sad. 

Umm, my Spanish has definitely gotten WAY better since I got here. The hardest thing for me is all the modismos, is what Elder Islas calls them, which i think more or less means the sayings or slang. But there are things that people say here that, when translated to English, kind of make sense, but you would never say it like that. Example: to say it is really hot, they say ´´El calor es muy fuerte´´, which directly translates to: ´the heat is very strong´, which kinda makes sense, but you would never say it like that. And a lot of the time the order of the words in the sentence is way different. The way Elder Islas told me to remember it is to try and speak like Yoda, because most of the time you have to say the person or the subject at the end of the sentence. Which is really weird! Its super confusing in my head. But i'm kinda getting used to it. Also, it's hard to type on a Spanish keyboard. Haha, i'm still not used to that. 

Like i think I've said before, everyone and their dog tries to speak English to me. Most of the time it's just the "f-word" in one variation or another. But some funny questions i have gotten this week : ´´what time is your name?´´ and.. ´´when are you from?´´ Haha, so it's kinda funny. I know i have probably said much dumber things trying to speak in Spanish, but oh well.

We have eaten SOOOO good this week! We've eaten hamburgers, enchiladas, Little Caesar's, and a bunch of different kinds of meats. A snack that we had 3 or 4 times this week is called... i can't remember what they call it. haha, but it's cut up jicama with chili powder and you squeeze lime on it, and it's soooo good! They put chili powder and lime on everything here, even the watermelon, which kinda threw me off, haha, but the food here is way way good. I'm not gonna lie, i think i like the food here way more than the food in the U.S. So far my favorite food still are the Campechanas. I took a picture of them so i'll send those after this. 

Also, i have a mailing address! it's not actually our house, it's a member's right across the street, but that's just because we aren't ever home really so we're using their address for packages and letters and all that. So... it is:

Elder Austin Bird

Calle 13 1448

Fracc. Mirasierra

Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico C.P. 25016

Please send me stuff! I would LOVE to get some handwritten packages, or packages, or anything :) i'm not sure exactly how long it takes to get mail here but..send me something and we'll find out! I just want to say thanks to all the e-mails i've gotten already from friends and the family, it's a huge help and i love reading them, and just because i haven't responded doesn't mean i haven't appreciated them!

So unfortunately we only got to watch the Priesthood session of conference and the 1st session on Sunday because of appointments and meetings we had. BUT, i learned so much this weekend. It makes me wish i would have been more attentive to listening to the talks before I came on the mission. Ha, but first i wanna talk about what I learned in the Priesthood session. I really enjoyed all the talks, but specifically Elder Uchtdorf's and Elder Tad R. callister from the 70. I hope Grant was listening to Elder Callister's because he was talking to the Deacon's quorom's president! I was also thinking that next Priesthood session Caden will be able to go! That blows my mind. But one of the points he made was that the priesthood is just as powerful in a boy as it is in a man if exercised correctly. And that was really powerful to me because already as a missionary we have been asked to give blessings multiple times, and the power that we hold as members of the Priesthood really is so powerful and we truly have the power of God, all of us, Deacons, teachers. priests, elders, high priests, everyone! But the one point that I think was my absolute favorite out of all the conference that I got to watch (which we got to do in English in a little room), was this: God puts his trust in young people, in the weak, in the inadequate (because we all have short comings in comparison to God) because he knows of our infinite potential. And i have thought a lot about that, and it reminds me of my favorite scripture Ether 12:27. We all have weaknesses, and short comings, and we really don't deserve the love and blessings that God gives to us, but we have these weaknesses so that we can turn to God and come closer to our potential that we have, step by step. There's a scripture in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 where Paul is talking about how he feels like he is the least of all the apostles, but through the Grace of God and his faith in Him, he has been able to do great things. And I know in my life there have been so many times where I have felt like the ´´least´´ of something, but it's through the power and grace of God that we are able to overcome our weaknesses to become more like Him and to become stronger. And I have already experienced that so many times in my mission, I'm constantly being humbled everyday and I have to rely on the Lord. And the help and blessings He has given me have already made me a better missionary, and a better person. The thing I have loved so much about the mission is that it gives you the desire to be better, to be better in all aspects of your life, so that you can get closer to that potential that you have. There was a quote I heard in the MTC, i don't remember exactly who said it, but it says ´´Never doubt, never settle for anything less than your absolute best´´ And that's something I want to live by, because i want to try to reach my potential, and it's not necessarily easy, but the things that will make a difference in your life never are. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, that's what i've learned so far in the mission field. i'm excited to work this week and hopefully we will have some success in the next few weeks! Love you guys!!! Glad to hear you guys are doing so great! I loved that i got an e-mail from all of you guys. I'm going to try to respond to them before we have to leave. Love you all! Miss you guys!

Elder Bird

A Few Pictures

The District at a Mexican Buffet

                                               

Finally ready to go knock some doors

I feel much safer with the glass on top

Home Sweet Home

Happy Easter

Hola familia! Happy Easter!

So this week has been quite the roller-coaster.  So as i told mom and dad already i got sick on Wednesday with food poisoning or something and was throwing up for 2 days straight,Ii lost about 10 pounds in the process and i just barely am getting my appetite back. So that was no fun. This week we have had ZERO luck with investigators, it's vacation week, and holy week, so everyone was either out of town, or out in the streets drinking. So we had only a few lessons and we would visit houses for hours straight not getting a hold of anyone, which was a little frustrating. I also pulled a muscle in my neck earlier this week, and is just now getting better. So this week has definitely been a test of my patience! But, i figured i'd start with the bad things before i got to the good things, because there were also some really good things about this week too:)

So on Wednesday night we had our first meeting with the bishop, and he is way cool! but he's been sick all week so he asked us to give him a blessing. and he asked ME! so i was a little nervous to say the least, but it went really well and i definitely could feel the spirit working through me to say the things in Spanish that needed to be said. So that was really cool. Then the next 2 days I was sick, but then Saturday and Sunday we were able to meet a lot more of the members which was good. Church yesterday wasn't really what i thought it would be at all, it seemed like it wasn't even Easter. But it was still good! Just a little different. I definitely was missing you guys yesterday thinking about the Easter egg hunt i knew you guys were having! I bet that was a lot of fun. But after church Yesterday we ate with the Barrajas family, who is the family of the ward mission leader, and they remind me a lot of our family! and their son is literally Caden's Mexican twin. But the fed us menudo, i am not sure how to spell it exactly, but it's cow intestines! i had no idea what i was eating until after, but I had an idea that it was something weird, i just didn't want to know for sure until after i finished eating. haha, but it was alright, really weird texture. but yep! so that was the weird food for the week. We finally did some cleaning in the house which was much needed, so now there aren't as many cockroaches everywhere. And it turns out i kinda like washing my clothes outside, i feel like it gets the job done better. But i have lots of pictures to send so you can see my work:) Also, we didn't get a chance to buy gas yet but i think we are going to try and do that after this so hopefully we can have some warm water finally. I actually haven't minded the cold showers so much this week because it's been super hot the last few days. I have gotten like 7 shades darker.

Sorry if my emails seem scatterbrained, i write down things in my journal throughout the week that i want to remember to write about, so i just have a bunch of random thoughts i want to share. But anyways, today was the best day here by far! We had a zone activity and went to a military exhibit in Saltillo, which was WAY cool. I will send you guys all the pictures after i send this. but that was way way fun, and then we went to.. Sirloin i think it's called, which is a buffet. Which was EXACTLY what i needed after losing 10 pounds this last week, i'm pretty sure i gained half of it back today. but i really like our zone a lot, there's a lot of cool guys. in my district there are 8 elders, 5 Latinos  and 3 Americans. So a pretty good mix. there's on elder who is my generation brother, Elder Watts, and then our district leader, Elder Hernandez, only has a month before he goes home. But today was a lot of fun!  we just barely got back before coming in here to write. Some interesting culture things about Mexico here that i noticed this week i that people don't fill up their own gas, there's a guy who does it for you. so that was a little weird. Also, the age limit to work here is different, idk if there really is one, i'm sure there is, but there are 11 or 12 year old kids that work in almost every store or restaurant we've been in.

I have made an effort to make goals this week so i can see my progress, especially in Spanish. and it has made a HUGE difference. I can see myself slowly progressing and getting better, i still have a really long way to go, and i still can't understand a lot, but i am getting better and more comfortable, which has been a huge blessing.
So this week i've really been focusing on putting my trust in the Lord. It was really tough at some points but i have been able to find peace knowing that God has a plan and he knows what is best for me. A scripture i have read a lot this week is Proverbs 3:5-6. Which talks about trusting the Lord with all your heart. And that is so essential for us, because we are always going to have trials in life, but God knows what is best.

I love you all and you all sent me super long emails so i am going to print them out and read them more thoroughly throughout the week so i can respond to them better in my next email. Pay attention to conference this week! There will be some great lessons taught to us and i'm excited to listen to our leaders. Also i'm interested to see what it's like in Spanish... ha. But i love you! miss you! thanks for all your support! :)

Elder Bird