Not the best week :(

Hey guys!!!!

This week has been superrrrrrrrrrr long. I've actually been in kind of a funk lately, and been feeling a little bummed, not for any reason in specific, just been in kind of a bad mood and i couldn't seem to snap out of it, BUT something awesome happened yesterday! Which i will tell you guys about shortly...

But first off, i didn't get many emails from you guys this week so i'm guessing it was a crazy week finishing up school! Now you guys are all gradumakated and stuff. When is Kendall's graduation ceremony? You guys gotta send me pictures!!!!! I also heard from Kendall that the house was flooded? Someone has GOT to explain that story to me! 

Well on saturday we had a special conference with Elder Johnson on his last day here just with the mission leaders, so it was about 15 missionaries, the mission president and his wife, and then elder johnson and his wife. And it was seriously one of the most incredible meetings i have ever been in. The spirit was SOOOO strong. I won't try to describe some of the things he taught to us in the meeting, because it won't be nearly as powerful as the way he taught us. But a cool thing that he taught us is something that comes in D&C 68, and says that anything said under the influence of the spirit, is scripture, and has just as much power as the scriptures we find in the bible and book of mormon, even though we almost always just think of those books to be the only scripture, and forget the power of the spirit revealing new scripture through his servants here in the earth.

(i'm just apologizing for my HORRIBLE english grammar by the way)

Haha, but the meeting was just really really special. It was the closest and most personal meeting that i've had with a general authority and the spirit he has is incredible. It definitely motivated all of us to be better.

But back to what i was saying earlier, i'm not exactly why i was stuck in this funk, i was just a little frustrated with some elders in my district being dumb and a little frustrated with my companion and then just overwhelmed with all the work i have in the offices and then the work in our area on top of that and i was just ready to explode yesterday. We had a HORRIBLE lesson with the family of Lalo, and his grandma (who has promised us the last 3 weeks she will come to church but hasn't) had a huge breakdown and expressed to us how she doesn't even believe in God anymore and how she doesn't believe that He is there and that He knows her, because she is still emotionally scarred from the loss of her daughter about 6 months ago. And she told us she doesn't want anything anymore and basically just kicked us out of our house. And so when we left their house, i was about ready to just lose it. I was just beyond frustrated and just wanted to go home for the night, but we still had one more appointment with the familia de la cruz before we were going to go home. So when we got to their house me and my companion were both in a horrible mood and just not in a good spirit to teach. But we taught the lesson anyways, and it went pretty well but nothing great. Then we said the closing prayer and just out of habit asked them if they had any questions or something we could do for them before leaving. And that's when things started to get AWESOME! They told us that they have been praying together as a family and reading the book of mormon together and have decided that they want to get baptized. And they asked us how many more lessons we needed to teach them before they get baptized or when was the soonest they could get baptized. Then they told us that they have been studying baptism in the scriptures (something that we still hadn't left for them to do) and that the daughter has already read the ENTIRE book of mormon! So cool!!! So they will get baptized on June 22!!! (or maybe the 15th if we get permission from president). But they are seriously the most prepared and gospel ready family i have ever met on my mission. It was just so cool, and then right as we left the house i got a call from the family i baptized in my first area telling me that they have already started taking the temple prep classes and that within a month will be going to the temple to get sealed as a family. So i am SUPER excited to be able to go with them soon! And then the other family (Nieto) from my first area also wrote me saying that soon they will start the classes as well because they are about to complete a year as well. So i'm super excited to go to the temple with them!! 

Well i love you guys and i hope you have a great week!! But write me this week becaue i didn't hear from you guys much this week! But i love you all:))

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

A Visit From Elder Johnson

Hola mi familia querida!!

I just have to say i'm glad that Grant and Caden are following in my footsteps and being super good at everything!:) That's awesome to hear how good they're getting at basketball and at band and at everything! Also i can't believe the next time i write you guys Grant will no longer be in middle school and Kendall will have finished high school?!?! Aye aye aye, the things that happen when one goes to Mexico...

Haha well this has been an awesome week! Apart from the stomach problems that came up today after the food... it's been a really uplifting week. We had our conference this week with Elder Johnson, who is the Area President here in Mexico for those of you who don't know. He got here on Tuesday night and has been going to all the different areas in the mission. The conference for us here in Saltillo was on Wednesday and it was good! It wasn't anything we hadn't heard before, it was just the way that missionaries and members can work together more efficiently. And his emphasis was that the ONLY duty, or at least the most important one, that we have as members of Christ's true church is to save ALL of God's children. But it was a good conference all in all. Elder Johnson is very very straight forward with us but he's a really good and powerful speaker! It was CRAZY trying to organize everything, because me and Elder Lopez got the biggest load here in the offices in organizing all of the buses, making all the hotel reservations, and making sure all the members knew about it and we had to make invitations and talk to stake presidents and bishops and oh man it was just a lot of work. Kinda stressful but it's okay, because it's almost over. But tomorrow we have another conference with him for all the leaders in the mission. So we'll see how that goes , but we're really excited. Then we have the final conference with him tomorrow night with all the members in the 3 stakes here in saltillo and all the missionaries. I have gotten (and have been asked) to play piano in all of the conferences here in Saltillo, which is cool! 

So as far as the people we have in teaching, last Sunday was kind of a bummer because we had 9 people committed to come to church, and then a lot of crazy things happened in the morning and NONE of them were able to make it. Which was a big bummer! But this week we should have 6 or 7 investigators in the church, so we're really excited! We have a TON of people in teaching right now, it's just been really hard to find time to get with them for all of the things we've had to do for the Elder Johnson visit. But we have 3 really cool families that we have right now that we're really excited about. The De La Cruz family has already been to church twice and we are planning to make a baptismal date with them tomorrow, and then the familia Muñoz Rodriguez is a family we just barely met this week. The mom just barely had operation to remove a 15 cm cancerous tumor, we contacted her daughter in the bus a few weeks ago and she asked us to visit them because they are going through a really tough time but they are really really cool and they said they are coming to church this Sunday as well! So the work is moving along:)

I listened to a talk by Elder Bednar this week a lot of times, and there were some parts in there that really hit me hard. It's called ´´That we might not shrink'', and it talks about facing trials with not only faith in Christ but also having the complete submission to His will. It talks about a young couple, and how the husband gets cancer just a few weeks after their temple sealing, but there's a part when the cancer comes back after already being put into remission once a few years earlier, and he starts to feel alone, frustrated, hopeless, and as if Christ wasn't aware of his problem. And he relates the story of Christ in the bible when he is with his apostles in the boat, and the storm comes and the apostles begin to become scared and worried, and  they go up to the savior and ask him ''... carest thou not that we perish?'' And Christ gets up and calms the water. And in sharing this Bednar talks about the importance of first believing that Christ CAN or is able to ''calm the waters'', or heal us, or fix our problems, and then the 2nd part, which might be even more important, is having the faith necessary to submit yourself completely to HIS will, not our will. And if we can have those 2 thoughts coexist in our lives, we will be able to have more peace in our lives and we will be able to recognize the miracles that Christ provides us in our times of trials. 

Well i love you guys and i hope you have a GREATTTTTTTT last week of school! I miss you tons and pray for you guys every night! 

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

Long Time Since Last Letter

Hey guys!!!!

Well this week has been kind of depressing actually. Haha, on Wednesday morning we went to the airport with President to say good bye to Elder Udall and Elder McCoy (the materials secretary before me). And it just honestly kinda put me in a funk for a few days! It was weird seeing 2 of my bestfriends in the mission get on the plane to go home. But i guess that's the mission life. But it was cool being here to say goodbye to them at the same time. But it was just a really weird feeling. 

We also had a super cool district activity today, we came here to the church in the morning and played basketball and volleyball and then went bowling afterwards. It was so much fun! It's been WAY too long since i've played basketball, but don't worry! I shaked off the rust, so Grant and Caden you gotta get ready for 21 when i get home:) but that was really fun, The president had cancelled all activities for the last 2 transfers because they did house checks and all the houses were super dirty. So it was our punishment and he just barely let us do them again. So thank goodness for that because Pdays are SOOO boring when you can't do activities. It's still prohibited to play soccer which kinda stinks, but we'll see if he changes that rule too. But it has been a good Pday to say the least.

This week has been awesome because the really cool family i've been telling you guys about went to church last week and LOVED it. The hermana is really excited again and is even going to the temple with the ward tomorrow just to sit outside. But it was really cool. The kid, Ruben already wants to get baptized and just loved every second of church. So they are going again this Sunday and if everything goes well in 3 weeks they will get baptized! Lalo, the 13 year old who we were planning on baptizing this Sunday has kinda stopped progressing, which is pretty sad. He's just got a really really stubborn mom who doesn't really let him progress. She never lets him leave the house and she is ALWAYS yelling at him. Which has started to really frustrate us, we just don't really know how to tell it to her. It just seems like no matter how  much we talk about the importance of family and keeping the spirit in the home, it just goes in one ear and out the other. But we have an appointment with them tomorrow so we'll see what happens. We also found another family yesterday. The hermana was a reference from another ward here in the area, and her husband has had health problems for the past 6 months and she is just super super depressed. We taught them the restauración yesterday and they really liked it. They have a 12 year old daughter who's super cool too and also seemed really interested in what we had to say. So they said they would come to church this Sunday as well, so keep your fingers crossed!!

Something that i've been able to feel strong this week is the power that prayer has. We teach the importance of having communication with God all the time to our investigators but i feel like sometimes it's something i forget. This week i have really focused on saying more meaningful prayers and trying to build my relationship with God and i have been able to feel his presence even more strongly. In the district meeting I gave on Tuesday i talked about the importance of prayer, and we watched the segment of God's army where he receives his testimony through prayer, and then i made the invitation to everyone (including myself) to do the same, to look for that conviction that these things are true again and to be able to feel the spirit again confirm that God lives. And most of my district has told me of amazing experiences they have had this week through saying more meaningful and personal prayers. So it's something so simple that i feel like we forget a lot, so focus on your prayers this week!!

Well i love you guys and i know life is crazy right now with school and seminary ending, by the way i CAN NOT believe that Kendall is graduating in 2 weeks!!!! Haha but anywho, love you guys. have a great week!!!:)

Elder Bird 

Another Awesome Week

Well guys so guess what... I get to see your beautiful faces and talk to you guys in 2 days!!!! I'm so stinkin excited!! But you guys gotta let me know what hour would be best for you guys. 

Well this week has been pretty awesome! We found an hermana who is the niece of the hermana that i lived with in monclova (small world huh?) and she hasn't been to church in over 20 years and her husband and 2 kids aren't members and they're SUPER cool!!! We've had some really awesome lessons with them this week and the kids are super awesome too. So they should be going to church this Sunday. We also continue working with the family A L, but they've been a little frustrating, the won't really support Lalo in going to the church, so the last 4 weeks he has gone alone with us to the church, but he already wants to get baptized and he told me last week during church that he wanted to be an elder, and he asked me how he could become one. Cool huh? But yeah so we are hoping to have a baptismal service for him in 2 or 3 weeks along with another girl named Brelinda who has 9 years old that hasn't gotten baptized due to family problems, but now she says she is ready so we have been working with her family a lot this past week to try to bring the spirit back to a broken home, and we have had some really cool lessons with them. I feel like some of the coolest lessons i've had in the mission have been with members who haven't gone in a long time and haven't felt the spirit for a long time because the spirit in those lessons is so much stronger and they are able to remember the things they once believed in and the faith they once had. 

We also had the mission leader conference yesterday so i got to see a bunch of friends which is always fun. And 2 of my best friends in the mission are going home in 2 weeks! Which is super weird... one of them is the old materials secretary so now if i forget how to do something i gotta figure it out on my own haha. 

Well sorry this letter is so short but i can tell you guys all about my life on Sunday! But you guys gotta let me know when you can talk! Love you guys and can't wait to talk:)

Sorry this is the only picture i got this week!

Changes in the Office

Hey guys!!!!

Well, i have little to no time at all to write you guys today. Which i know has been kind of a common theme lately, so sorry about that. just tons and tons of work to do here.

Well since i have last written you guys lots and lots has happened. But i only have time for a quick summary. So president called 2 new assistants here in the offices, and Elder Islas and Elder Udall went to other areas as zone leaders to finish their missions. So i'm not gonna lie i've been missing them a lot haha. But the new assistants are awesome as well. We have a fecha (baptismal date) for Leticia for april, the only thing holding her back is the coffee but she has been letting it go which is awesome. She really has changed so much since i met her! We also have been teaching Jose, who is a mechanic and has already been 3 times to church, his only problem is that he is not married so in order for him to get baptized he has to get married, but we are just barely meeting his girlfriend and 2 kids so hopefully we can get them to go to church as well. The family Aa that we have been teaching has kind of stopped progressing, so we stopped visiting them for a few weeks and yesterday morning we ran into the mom and she told us how much she missed us in their house, because whenever we were there she had always been able to feel a sense of peace and tranquilidad (tranquility)  (idk how to say that in english... haha) 

We've also found a TON of less active members this week and had some SUPER awesome experiences with one family in particular, BUT,  i do not have time to tell you about but i PROMISE to tell you guys all about it in the next letter. I love you guys!! Have a great week!!! :)

Elder Bird

You Didn't Write this Week

Hey mom and dad!!! Well, I didn't get a letter from you guys this week (we both sent ours too late in the day).. YET. haha, but i just thought i'd drop in and say hey! so... hey!! haha, what's new? how's your week back to school and work been? life here has been CRAZYYYY. i haven't had a real night's sleep since last sunday it feels like. with all the new missionaries getting here this transfer was out of controlll. SOO much work. and then there were 2 zone conferences this week so i've had to do all of the boxes of materials for that but we're having A TON of problems with the distribution center still. which is a pain. but it's okay:)

this last sunday was kinda cool, we got to go to President's house and me and Elder Udall taught them how to make smores! Haha, so we were there making smores and just hanging out with their family, which is really really cool to be able to get to know them. It makes me miss you guys a lot being with them, but it's fun. Their little boy David just got baptized last Saturday and we did a special musical number (which was kind of horrible because the sister missionaries are a little bit tone deaf) but it was a really cool service, David cried when he said the closing prayer and it just reminded me of when I got set apart and Caden shared the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants and started crying, it just kinda hit me really hard! I kinda had some flashbacks to that night getting set apart and it seems like it was just yesterday but at the same time it feels like it was SOOOO long ago. I read the paper with all the advice that everyone gave me at least 2 or 3 times a week. It really gives me a lot of motivation to seguir adelante (sorry mom, idk how to say that in english...) (keep working hard) haha. But anyways i love you tons and i hope you guys can find some time to write me. LOVE YOU!!!

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

Fun Pictures

Do You Ever Feel the Weight of the World on Your Shoulders?

Which One Is Posing?

I made someone mad and they turned me into this :(

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hola mi querida familia!!

So first off i don't know if i just completely missed the memo but i had no idea Matt and MIchelle were moving to Texas. That's awesome!!! Also congratulations to Adam on his mission call!!! He's going to love the mission, Once you guys get his mission email please pass it to me so i can write him!! Well i hope you guys have had an awesome spring break this week, and tell Grant and Caden that I challenge them to a game of sting pong in 9 and a half months:)

Well sorry for not writing you guys last week, i didn't have much time. Well this week has been super busy because this monday are transfers. So we have been preparing everything for that which i didn't realize was so much work! And even more this time because no missionary goes home and there are FIFTEEN new missionaries getting here and 7 areas opening. And we have been having some serious problems with the distribution center and we just ended up buying the materials from the united states even though the shipping cost was a lot more because there is literally NOTHING in the mexican distribution center since i've been here in the offices. And we're not really sure what's up there... But we also had a problem with the company that we buy the housing materials from and they didn't send the correct number of materials we needed so we're going to be short some stuff for the new changes. Ahhhh, so it's been a little stressful to say the least this week. OH, and also the phone company here sent us the wrong area codes for 3 of the areas i asked for so i had to ask more and deal with getting all the numbers and new lines set up for the new areas. And then we've also had problems with the materials for office depot that we order for the offices and hermana rodriguez because they don't want to accept our internet orders anymore so i've had to talk with Mexico City to try and figure that problem out and it turns out that now we won't be able to do it online anymore which is kind of a pain. 

BUT.. this week hasn't been all stress! The president brought the 4 of us to his house on Sunday for his daughter's birthday and we ate cake and dinner at his house. So that was really fun! Also he has included the 4 of us (the assistents and me and Elder Barrera) in making the changes, and yesterday we went to his house and we said a prayer and there we finished deciding about the transfers about who was going to go where, which was a really cool experience i loved to be able to be a part of that. Also another cool thing we got to do was we got to go to the airport in Monterrey 2 weeks ago because there was a kid here from a branch in a small town in the mission who was set apart as a missionary by president and then we took him to the airport here in saltillo to go to the MTC in Mexico City, but there was too much fog so the plane had to land in monterrey so we got to go to the airport in monterrey to drop him off. Which was super cool! it was the same airport that i got to the mission in. And we bought Krispy Kreme's there too:) Also our investigator Leticia went to the church again last Sunday and has been progressing a ton. She was having a lot of problems due to some problems with gossiping in the ward, but we were able to have some really cool lessons with her in helping her understand that the CHURCH is perfect, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, And we've helped her turn her faith in Christ instead of in the people in the church, but it has not been easy that's for sure. Also last night i got permission to go see my converts from my first area!!! The familia Gonzalez Vazquez, and that was SOOOOOOOO cool! We ate dinner at their house and i got to see how they have been and their plans to get sealed in the temple in a few months. Also the hermano preached the gospel to his sister's family and they were all baptized last week. Which is soooo cool to see all the people our work is affecting. It was super super cool. I'll send some funny pictures in just a second.

Well, the church is true guys, the gospel changes lives and you can be a part of that. I love you all and i hope you have a great week! And i hope to hear from more of you next week:) 

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

HOLA MI QUERIDA FAMILIA!!!

So i know i'm the worst for not writing you guys last week, but i will explain to you guys all of the bajillion and one things that have been going on here in the offices and things we've had to do these past 2 weeks! But first off, CONGRATULATIONS KENDALL ON GETTING INTO BYU!!!!!! I'm stoked to party it up at the Y together!!! And also congratulations to Daniel stinkin Peterson for getting married?!?! That's awesome! When did all of my friends start to grow up and stuff... hijole. But if you guys could get me his email to write him to congratulate him. Also, if you guys could wait just a few more months to go to San Diego, that would be very much appreciated! Haha, but if not... i guess i'll forgive you guys. Just send me pictures of the liger in the zoo and i'll be okay. 

Well, i'll try to remember all that has happened since 2 weeks ago since i wrote you guys... 

Well, i'll start off with the conference of Elder Christensen that we had 2 Saturdays ago. Well in the offices we had to do all of the planning for the conferencia and buy all of the bus tickets and prepare the lunches and talk with the zone leaders and get the church ready and everything! So it was a lot of work just preparing for it. And on top of that somehow finding time to prepare the musical number, that actually turned out really well inspite of being super nervous and with a throat infection! Haha, but so Friday night we didn't get any sleep at all because the whole night we had to be checking with the buses to make sure they were getting to their stops and leaving on time and that all the missionaries made their buses and all that fun stuff. And then me Elder Barrera, and the 2 assistants, had to get to the church at 5:30 in the morning to set everything up and get the sound ready and make sure the buses were getting there on time. So we were EXHAUSTED by the time the conference even started. But the conference itself was awesome!!! Elder Christensen is a big guy! I didn't realize it but he's a giant! Haha, but i'm going to share a few points he made that i really really liked.

- The first thing he talked about is how we are children of God, and that if we are worthy that we truly can be instruments in God's hands, and that God trusts in his children, even with their weaknesses, and that it's only through the atonement and love of God that we will be able to sanctify ourselves and become worthy enough.

-He also talked about how the mission shouldn't be the same thing every day, or the same routine, but that every day should be different, because we should be getting better EVERY day, and that the same thing will apply to after the mission too, that we should always be progressing, not moving backwards.

-Then he made a pretty cool analogy about the different types of missionaries, the first types are what he called the niños, those that don't know anything and everything is new, the 2nd type is teenager, those who THINK they know a lot and depend on their own abilities, and the 3rd type are the adults, those who still don't know that much but that they know who to depend on (God) And that we should strive to be the 3rd type of missionary.

-And then probably my most favorite point he made was that a lot, if not all, has to do with our attitude! He told a story when he was a mission president in Mexico City about an area that hadn't baptized for over 3 years, and so finally he decided to make a change and take out the Elders and put in Hermanas, and then within 3 months they had baptized over 20, so when he interviewed them to find out how they were having so much success, the hermana just said ´´President, who would be able to say no to this smile?'' He talked about that we should always portray the happiness that is the gospel and portray the light of Christ, and that this work is a work of love.

Other things that we have been busy with these past weeks are sick missionaries! We've had 2 Elders here with us that were in Monclova because of sickness. One of them had their gall bladder removed so he couldn't walk for about 2 weeks. And then another one has a horrible throat and stomach infection so he has been with us this week as well. So we have been having to take turns staying with them. But now they have recovered enough to be able to go back to their areas. So that's good! Also we've been doing all of the purchases for the materials of the new areas and checking with a bunch of different places to find the cheapest stuff and then today the whole morning we were receiving the stuff in the house, like all of the mattresses, the irons, the microwaves, and tables were turned in to us. Oh also we found a new house!!! Because now the area presidency doesn't want 4 missionaries living in the same house so we had to look for a new house and we found one that is really nice! And wayyyy closer to our area and the offices. Because the house we have right now is a 40 minute walk to the offices, and then another 30 minute walk in the opposite direction to our area. So this house will be better for us, but i'm kinda bummed we won't live with the assistants any more because it's super fun living with them! But, oh well. 

Well if everything works out this week we will have a baptism!!! Her name is Leticia and she is the mom of 2 recent converts. She went to the church again this last week and we have continued to work with her this week. It's also been cool because the Elder that had his gall bladder removed, is the one that started teaching her here about 4 months ago, so he's gone to a few lessons with us and he's helped us a lot with her! So that's been sweet, The other family that we are teaching right now has kind of stopped progressing for now, but we are going to see if they go to the church on Sunday but if not we are probably going to leave them for a while... :/ 

Well, I love you guys! I hope you guys have a great week. And i have a request! Could you guys send me a family picture? I want to put one up here in my desk:) Haha, i love you guys and i'll be back on in a little bit to respond to the other emails!!

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

Feliz Dia de San Valentin!

Hey guys!!!! So i feel like i got lots and lots of stuff to tell you guys! So hopefully i can remember all of it. But first off Happy Valentines Day!!! Dad, be sure to buy Mom a nice dinner or something:) Haha, and way to go Caden you stud, getting 6 carnations? that's pretty impressive! And way to go Grant on your spelling bee! 9th out of 40 is super impressive! Way to carry on the spelling bee tradition in the family:)

Well, this week was probably even crazier than the last week. Because just when i thought i couldn't get any busier... i got busier! Haha, so this week has been interviews with the President, but for some reason he didn't schedule them until Monday, when we usually have like 3 weeks in advance to prepare everything. So I had to send the list of materials to all the zones in the mission, and then have them fill it out with all the stuff they need and then have them send it back to me the same day so i could start getting together all the materials. So I had very little time to do a lot of things. So this week starting on Wednesday there were interviews, so each day a different zone here in Saltillo came here to the offices to have their interview with the president. And every time they have interviews or zone conferences is when i have to give them a ton of materials that they need. But it's a little ridiculous the amount of things they ask for, haha. But we are kinda low on stuff right now and things are taking forever in getting here to the offices AND the system on LDS store STILL hasn't changed me as the person in charge of buying things for the mission even though we changed it almost a week ago, so we might be kinda low on some materials for a while. But... it's not my fault. But it's been cool seeing all the Elders here but it has been a lot a lot of work this week trying to get all the materials ready. Also every one and their dog has had problems with their cell phones it seems like so i've spent like half of my week talking to Telcel (the phone company here) trying to get the problems fixed with our service. So that's been lots of fun! And then next week President is going to be leaving to go to the other 4 zones in the mission, (Monclova, Monclova Este, Nueva Rosita y Piedras Negras) so i have to get ALL of the materials ready before Tuesday before he leaves, which in total is about 25 areas. So i'm going to be SUPERRRR busy these next few days getting everything ready. And tomorrow, i don't remember if i mentioned this in the last letter, but Elder Christensen from the Presidency of the Qurorom of 70 is coming tomorrow to give us a conference to the whole mission! So that'll be really cool! The whole mission will be traveling through the night to get here tomorrow morning early. The conference is going to start at8:00 but me and Elder Barrera and the assistants have to be there at 5:30 in the morning to set everything up. And you guys know how i am in the mornings... Haha but it'll be good. President has basically left us 4 in charge of setting up everything this week making sure we have all the equipment and keys and travel plans and all that fun stuff. So it's been kinda hectic. And...  I'm also going to be doing the special number! President asked me to be in charge of setting that up so I got one more Elder and 2 Hermanas to do it with me. We are going to sing 'Señor Te necesito', or I need thee every hour. But we haven't had much time to practice it at all, so hopefully it turns out well tomorrow... haha. And also i have a throat infection so that makes things a little more complicated also. But, it should be good. We're excited.  

So with everything that we have had to do this week unfortunately we weren't able to leave much to work in our area, which was a bummer! BUT we do have a baptismal date for one of our investigators for the 2nd of March. So that's awesome! We are going to be working with her a lot to make sure she's ready, she has told us she already wants to get baptized and be part of the church (her 2 daughters are recent converts) but that she's worried that she wont be able to complete with the requirements of getting baptized, and that she will let God down, and she also has a lot of questions for us about the restauración, but we've been working with her to make sure she'll be ready for her baptism in 3 sundays! But we had a really really cool lesson with their family last week with her 2 daughters. We invited the hermana to get baptized and promised her all the blessings she would receive by putting her trust in the Lord and taking this important step, and we asked her daughter to give her testimony of baptism. And she started to bear her testimony and started to cry as she gave one of the most powerful testimonies i've heard in a long time, and the spirit was soooo strong. So we're really excited to keep teaching this family. We also have been teaching a family who we contacted last week, their daughter just barely passed away so they really have a desire to know more about God's plan for us. So we've been able to have a couple really spiritual lessons with them about the plan of salvation. The ward i'm in right now, because idk if i have mentioned it yet, is called 'Fundadores', and it's right next to my first area Zaragoza! So all of it is pretty familiar to me. But the ward is really awesome and they have an awesome ward mission plan, so they've been giving us a ton of referrals and a lot of work to do. Which is SOOOOO nice after my last area. Unfortunately we just haven't had much time to visit a lot of the referrals this week. But we should have at least 3 or 4 of our investigators in church this Sunday! So we're excited. 

Well something really cool that we have started doing here in the offices is saying a prayer together every morning. The president in our meeting together on Monday, which we have every week with the secretaries, the assistants, the president and his wife, had the idea to have a prayer in his office at 10:30 every morning to ask God to help us find more people to teach, and to help the missionaries in the mission find more people to get baptized. And every single morning that we do it it brings an incredible spirit to the room and it's just been something really really cool that we have started to do.

Well, the church is true guys. God lives and he answers our prayers, we just have to do our part and reach out and ask him and He's there waiting to help us. Trials come to our lives for a reason and we can either choose to have them bring us down or try to learn from them and grow closer to our savior. This work is incredible and I invite you guys to be member missionaries back at home! I love you guys a ton and i hope you have a great week! THanks for all the support and love you guys give me! Wouldn't be the same without it! Love you!!!!:)

con mucho amor,

Elder Pajarito 

Lots and Lots of Work

Well Mom's been giving me updates on Grant's spelling bee thing and i'm impressed! I was watching the clips and realized I didn't even know how to spell the words he was spelling! haha, but that last word he got out on i'm pretty sure they just made up. Definitely not a real word. So way to go Grant! Haha, and i'm also jealous of all the snow you guys are getting. I have been wanting to see snow the whole winter but i knew it was never going to happen. But it HAS been very cold this week. But today it's hot again, so i'm guessing the cold times are basically over now. Back to the heat again. And that's awesome Kendall will get to perform at the Mavericks game!! That'll be super cool! I knew i should have joined Golden Girls back in high school to get to do cool stuff like that. Haha:)

Well this first week as Secretary has been CRAZYYYYYY. Until last night i hadn't gotten more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep any day of the week. So some of the things i have to do apart from the obvious things like make sure all the missionaries have all the pamphlets and books of mormons they need, is deal with all the phone problems that missionaries have, which involves talking to the phone company here on a regular basis. And also ordering all of the office supplies and mission supplies online through the church store, also i'm in chare of all of the referrals in the mission, for example passing them from one area to another. And then lots of other stuff! So it's a lot of work!! But to start off Saturday was really really cool. Remember the Gonzalez family that Elder Peralta and I baptized in my first area? Well if you don't we baptized 4 of the 6 members of the family because at the time the 2 oldest daughters didn't weren't ready still. Well this Saturday night they got baptized here in the church by the Mission offices. So i was able to go see the baptism and see the family again! And it was SOOO cool! I had missed them so much! And the other family we baptized in that area with Elder Peralta also went to the baptism so I got to see like 10 of my converts at one time! And it was AWESOME!! The best part was seeing their reactions when they saw me, the hermano was freaking out and the daughter started to cry she was so excited. Haha, ahh it was just really really cool. The hermano Jose baptized his 2 daughters and it was soooo cool to see how much they've progressed since i left and how strong they are in the church. It was honestly one of the coolest experiences in my mission. Then Sunday almost all day we were in the offices preparing things for the new missionaries who were going to get here Monday. ! And then Monday and Tuesday, oh man... it was chaos. So Monday morning the Latinos got here and we took them to eat and had to do a bunch of paperwork (which is my job) and do a bunch of other things to get them ready. And then when the Americans got here in the night me and Elder Barrera were in charge of the dinner and setting everything up and coordinating everything because the President and the assistents went to the airport to pick them up. So we had a big dinner with the new missionaries, some of the trainers who traveled from out of town to stay the night and then the missionaries who were finishing the mission. So in total it was about 25 missionaries. But then Tuesday was even crazier! Because that morning Elder McCoy left for Monclova for his new area and so he wasn't there to help me out anymore, which was kinda tough at first because he really didn't have much time to train me on all the things i have to do. But so the morning was full of trainings and classes for the new guys and trainers, and i had to give a 20-25 minute training too to them on all the things i do and what they have to do as far as materials and letters and packages and all that fun stuff. But Elder McCoy didn't really explain all that much about what i had to do so i just kinda winged it.. haha but it turned out well. And then i had to make sure all of the areas that are opening had their materials and celulares and all of the things that they needed before they left to the bus station to go to the new area. And everyone and their dog was calling me to try to get me to send materials or other things with the missionaries who were coming from here in the offices back to the other zones. So i was running all over the place basically the whole entire day. I was seriously EXHAUSTED by the time everyone had already left. And next change will be even crazier because we are going to be opening 7 areas and 15 missionaries get to the mission. So i'll be very busy in the next few weeks trying to get everything ready. But i like it, it's A LOT of work and everyone is always calling me asking for stuff but it's cool. I like being around President all the time because i get to learn a lot from him. So yeah it's been good! 

Well that's the exciting stuff i can think of right now, haha. But i hope you guys have a GREAT week! Cover up, take pictures of the snow for me! Love you guys!!!:)

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird

Recognizing Gods Blessings - January 20, 2014

Hey guys!! I hope you are enjoying your day off!  I'm on a little earlier because we are going to have an activity with the stake president in a little bit. He's going to make the whole zone nachos and we're going to watch a movie with him. He's sooooo cool! He always does really awesome things for us.

Well this week has been pretty interesting to say the least. So on Tuesday night we had scheduled a meeting with our ward mission leader in the church at 7. So on our way we met this kid from Monterrey who apparently is a member of a ward over there, he's 18 and this is the story that he told us. that he had run away from home that morning without telling his parents or anybody, so he took a bus from Monterrey to Saltillo (like 1 hour and a half away) to come climb this giant hill because he said he saw it in a dream he had. and in the dream he climbed up it and his girlfriend (now ex girlfriend as of like 2 weeks ago) was up there waiting for him. so he came here! but he had never been here before, knew no one here, had nowhere to stay, and nothing to do except climb this hill and be alone. so he said he was looking for us all day so we could talk to him, and so we talked to him and calmed him down and bought him something to eat and then gave him a blessing and helped him find The Red Cross shelter so he would have a place to stay. so we dropped him off there at like 9:30ish, but then in the morning his mom called us from Monterrey and said he was already home again sleeping! but she asked us a million questions about how he was or what conditions we found him in and all that stuff. but it was super super weird! And then on Wednesday, Elder Porras got sick and we had to take him to the doctor and it turns out he had a stomach infection so he had to rest all day Wednesday and then part of the day Thursday because he was throwing up a lot. Poor guy, but luckily he got better relatively quick so we could start to work again on Thursday! Ooh also on Tuesday you will never guess what they gave us to eat... grasshoppers! They just fried them up and put salt on them and put them in front of us in a big bowl as if they were chips. I tried it just to say that i ate a grasshopper but it was soooo gross! Haha i had fear that they were going to start hopping around in my mouth, but yeah so i would not recommend it. Also, yesterday at church the bishopric gave us a 10 second notice to give a talk haha, so that was fun. I always love when that happens... 

Well these past 2 changes i feel like I've really learned a lot, and even though we haven't baptized we have really been able to have some awesome experiences. So as i think I've explained before, alllll of our investigators have health problems. 2 of them have cancer, one of them just had his foot amputated, one of them is paralyzed from the waist down, one of them has really bad diabetes and is going blind, so it's been SUPER hard to get them to try to go to church! But as we have taught them and gotten to know them better it has really humbled me so much. And every time i begin to think about a problem i am going through, i realize that there are people who have problems soooo much bigger than i do. And that if i am here in this area right now, it's because God has trusted me to be able to try and help the people here. We've seen so many sad situations recently but we have seen the Lord's hand in our lives and in their lives by giving them more hope. And in spite of their circumstances their faith in the Lord has strengthened mine so much and helped me remember that we shouldn't be defined by our circumstances, but instead thank God for the blessings AND the trials we have and always remember that God has something better waiting for us, even when it's hard.

Well I love you guys a ton and i hope you're enjoying your day off and have a great week!:)

Elder Bird 

''For you receive no witness until AFTER the trial of your faith"

Hola Familia!!!!

So it's good to hear the weather was just as crazy there as it has been here! i seriously had to switch from short sleeves shirts to sweaters almost everyday. Gotta love that right? We also don't have any more gas for the boiler so we have been showering with freezing cold water the last few days which has been a whole lot of fun... haha. 

Well this week has been really awesome for us and we have finally been able to start to see results from our work. And it's been really amazing to see the Lord's hand in guiding us to the people he has prepared for us to find. As i have told you guys before i think the ward here is divided into 2 areas, and our side of the area has maybe 10 members and the majority of the area have never been touched my missionaries here before. But this week has really been a miracle for us. Since the few members we have in our area haven't been much help we have dedicated almost all of our time this week to just contacting .So what we have been doing is just contacting everyone that we can in all these neighborhoods that have no members or old investigators or anything. And at first we struggled a ton to find people that wanted to listen to us. But in just this week alone we have found about 12 new investigators in a neighborhood that has never seen missionaries before, probably because it's SUPER far away, haha. But after weeks of struggling to find people this week we seemed to find all of the golden investigators that we have been looking for. The first one is Norma, who is a 23 year old single mom of a 5 year old. (who by the way is one of the coolest little kids ever) And we contacted her along with her mom and grandpa, but she was the only one able to go to church this Sunday, but it's been incredible because they have accepted EVERYTHING that we have taught them so far and they are progressing so quickly. It's truly just been a blessing to have found them. We also found a family through a contact we did in the street, her name is Karen and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and then taught the restauracion to her family the next day and they loved it! But unfortunately they weren't able to go to church this week. But really the people we have found this week have made all the searching worth it. I was thinking a lot about a scripture that is in Ether 12, and it says that we won't receive a witness until after the trial of our faith, and that God won't provide any miracle until after he sees the faith of His children. And I've noticed that time and time again on my mission. The miracles and blessings always come after a trial of our faith.

Well, I truly love this work. I know that there's nothing better. I love my Savior and I love you guys!!! Thanks for all your love and support and i hope you all have a GREATTT week!

I'm An Old Fart!

Well guess what guys... i'm 20!!!?!?! How did that happen? I'm not even a teenager anymore! Well thanks so much to everyone for all the birthday wishes! They really meant a lot to me:) And yes today has been pretty great! The bishop took us to a carne asada buffet which was DELICIOUS!!! I'm not really sure how i fit so much food into my stomach, but it was so cool because you just go there and you sit down and as soon as you sit down there is a guy that comes to your table with a giant plate of carne asada and chicken wings and sausages and quesadillas, you don't even have time to think the whole time because they are bringing you so much food. and it's pretty cheap too! like 8 bucks! so if we come back to visit after i am going to take you guys there:)

 

Well this week has been pretty awesome because on Wednesday we had our zone conference with the president, which i'll tell you guys about more in a second, and then this weekend was also Stake Conference here, and it was broadcast from Salt Lake with Elder Christenson, and Elder Christofferson, whose Spanish by the way is fantastic, he sounds like a native speaker. And the entire conference was focused on the missionary work! And what we can do as members and as missionaries to be able to bring more people unto Christ, and there were some really awesome messages. And the stake center was FILLED! there wasn't even enough room for everyone to fit which was really cool to see. Also this week i went on divisiones with some of the Elders in my district, which i really love doing because it helps me learn from each one of them and to become a better missionary. And also something cool that happened last monday, we left the Ciber and we went to Soriana (like a walmart) to take out the rent money, and when we went outside to wait for a taxi this guy came up to us and asked us if we were mormon missionaries and we told him yes, and then he told us he was going to buy us all an order of tamales (because there are always old ladies outside selling tamales) so we said sure and thanks a lot! and we turned our heads for 2 seconds and when we went to go ask who we was he had already disappeared! Weird right?! i'm thinking it was one of the 3 nefites... haha. Also there has been a pretty deadly virus going around here so on Friday all the missionaries in the zone had to go get our vaccinations. And you know how much i love shots... but oh man it was PRICELESS to see how much the elders hated needles, there are some pretty awesome pictures that i will try to send you guys of us just in complete fear right before getting the shot. Haha, but now we`re all vaccinated so hopefully we won't catch the virus.

 

Well on Wednesday like i told you guys we had our Zone conference and like i had been told the work is changing a little bit again! Before the goal for contacts every week was only 15, and now it's 50! And the number of references we have to get every week have TRIPLED! So we will be finding more by our own contacts AND with the members so it should be really awesome! It was fun contacting more this week and we met a ton of people, but unfortunately only one was able to go to church this week. But president shared a lot of scriptures with us but there was one that i really loved, that is found in D&C 60:1-2 and it talks about how God has given all of us talents, we just have to open our mouths instead of hiding the talents that he has given us because we're afraid of what people might say to us. And the only way to find out what our talents are that God has given us is by putting ourselves in situations to practice our talent! But i really liked that message. Sometimes our fear of getting rejected or of embarrassing ourselves keeps us from trying something or following an impression from the spirit to talk to someone, but if the spirit gives you the impression it's because God is trusting you with one of His children to share the gospel and the plan that He has for us.

Well, the church is true guys. I realize that more and more every day i serve. I love the work and we are working hard to bring more results, and more than anything being what the Lord wants me to be. I love you guys so much and thank you for all the birthday wishes!!! Love you!!:)

Elder Pajarito 

Pictures in Saltillo

Pre-Christmas Party

Finally Found Someone with our maturity level :)

Do You Like My New Coat?

Christmas Dinner -- After I Cut My Finger

Fun at the Mexican Park

"Chef Elder Pajaro"

Really?  Ice in Saltillo?

Being What The Lord Wants

Hola familia!!!

Oh man, so i definitely miss all the christmas break stuff we always did together, it sounds like you guys had a ton of fun this week with all the family!! Also i heard mom hurt her knee a little bit ice skating? i hope it's better now though?! kendall just told me she hurt it, so you guys gotta update me on that. And from the sounds of it it seems like you guys had an awesome new years!! i'll tell you how mine went in a little bit:) 

So this time of year has just been surprise after surprise for me in how completely different the culture here is! unfortunately no one invited us over for new years... haha but we had our own little missionary party in our house with most of the district. and it was fun! We made molletes, which is just a torta with beans and cheese and chili in it, they were good and cheap so it's the perfect missionary meal haha. Only i was kind of a retard and cut my hand on the bean can and got blood all over the beans... so we had to go buy a new one. Haha, it reminded me of the time i was at amy and andy's house and i cut myself opening the tuna can, i'm just a little special sometimes:) but anyways it was fun! Our neighbors were having a party so it was SUPER loud all night and people were shooting off fireworks all night, so we kinda didn't get that much sleep. But oh my goodness, there were SOOOOOO many empty beer cans on the ground the next day, we could hardly take 2 steps without stepping on a beer can. But i took some videos of the fireworks and when it was 12:00 so i'll try to upload those if i have time! but so that was a fun night! But then this is the part that i DIDN'T know. So apparently here they have 2 christmas basically! FIrst is the normal christmas and then they celebrate los reyes magos, which is today actually! and it's another day of presents, except they actually get more presents today then they do on christmas. crazy right?! what i understand is it's celebrating the 3 wisemen who came and visited Jesus and brought him gifts, but apparently the also come and visit all the houses here over night (last night) to bring gifts, like santa clause! but it's cool! so all the kids today have been walking around with their presents.

Well apart from all that fun stuff, this week has been a pretty stressful week for us with our investigators. it seems all of the people we have been teaching have just stopped progressing, or don't have time for us (which is understandable because of the holidays) but it has been a little frustrating because we really have been working really really hard but we didn't see many results this week. Which has kind of seemed to be a common struggle in this area, which has been pretty tough. When i left my other area we had around 12 investigators progressing and going to church every week and just super awesome! But getting here we havent had that kind of success, and it's been trying us! We look for new ideas to find people and to help the investigators we have but we've been struggling. But we have really made an effort to turn to the Lord in our struggles to find what He wants for us to do and to help us find the people he has prepared for us. but it has definitely been a trial the past few weeks. But we´re working hard at it, don't worry:)

Well this week is going to be awesome because we have our zone conference on wednesday! And rumor has it that they are going to change the way we work AGAIN. Haha, which will mean just another thing to adjust to. But it's okay! I'm excited for it. i actually saw the new mission goals from the zone leaders and they're a lot higher, which will be good! And we will also go back to contacting a lot more, not as much as before but way more than we do now. So the number of contacts and referrals every week is more than tripled now, which will require a lot of work! But it should also bring more results, the important part is that we just do what the Lord wants us to do right?:)

Well i hope you all have a great week, and isn't it crazy this is my last week being a teenager?!? I'm getting so old guys!! Haha, well anyways i love you all:) cuídense!!!

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird 

Feliz Ano Nueve

Well guys i must say talking to you all on Christmas was by far the best Christmas  present i could have gotten. i loved the little time i got to see you guys and hear your voices! And i STILL can't believe grant's voice is so low! what the heck?!? and sorry the video quality was so low and you couldn't really see me. i was kinda bummed about that, i got my hairs cut and everything! Haha, but either way it was so awesome to talk to you guys:)  

I must admit, it was a little weird to be away from home for Christmas, but it was still a good Christmas! We went to eat with 2 families that invited us all over, but i was kinda disappointed because i didn't get any Christmas tamales like i was hoping for! We got hamburgers twice instead... haha weird right? But the members treated us super well on christmas so it was a good day:)

Well as is the mission life, the rest of the week was work work work! Which is fine, because it probably helped us from becoming too home sick. Haha, but this week we had a couple really cool experiences with a couple we're teaching. They're an older couple and the husband was recently diagnosed with cancer, i think I've already mentioned them before, but we were able to visit them various times throughout the week with a familiy in my ward. And almost the whole week we were focusing on the restauracion. Because they're christians but don't see the point really in religion. But we had a really really powerful lesson with them and the spirit testified to them the truth of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith, and he told us he believed the entire thing and is excited to read the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, his wife got sick so they weren't able to go to church this week but they already said they would go next week! We also have been teaching Anabel, who is the girlfriend of a SUPER less active member in our ward. But we had never met the member until this week. And it turns out he's just kind of a bum! He sits at home all day and plays PS3 and watches Netflix while Anabel is out working all day. So we've been trying to help Ramiro (the boyfriend) out and motivate him to actually do something with his life. But he is just super lazy and it's kind of frustrating. But we'll keep working with him. Well most of the other investigators that we have had have been out of town but this week they are going to return so we'll be able to see everyone again! so that'll be sweet!

Well yesterday in sacrament meeting our bishop gave a really cool talk about facing the new year. He talked about the story of lot's wife, and how the only commandment she was given when they were told to flee their city was to not look back and to run to the mountain. And he related this to facing the new year. But it really applies to every aspect in our life. Starting the new year i invite you guys to leave all the bad things or mistakes from this last year behind, and to strive to reach a higher place this year. Because we all make mistakes, all the times. But let's learn from these mistakes and use them to make us stronger this time around so we can end up in a higher place next year, because what's important to God isn't the mistakes we've made in the past, but instead what we are doing in this instant to become better, and where we are willing to go to become better. I know for me this past year has had its ups and downs, but i can proudly say i feel like a much better and stronger person now than where i was a year ago, and i know my last year in my mission will make me even better, but it will only come by leaving the mistakes behind and striving to be better!!

I love you guys and i hope you have a great last few days of vacations!! LOVE YOU!!!:))

... and i still can't believe Grant's voice is low.

con mucho amor,

Elder Bird:)

Christmas Conference - From December 11

Hey guys!!!!! I feel like it's been forever since i talked to you! Well this week has been CRAZYYY. We changed P-day this week because tomorrow is our Christmas Conference in the mission so we've been doing all the preperations for it and getting everything ready, our zone is going to do a sketch thing in the conference and it's going to be awesome!!! I'm going to try to get someone to record it so i can send it to you guys, but yeah i'm excited for the Conference tomorrow. It should be great!! Well that's super crazy all the snow and ice that has fallen! I'm a little jealous you guys went hookeybobbing without me but i loved all the videos you guys sent me! And it must have been really thick the ice if they cancelled church even! Crazy stuff. It's also way awesome of Grandma to come down for the concert! Gotta love that:)

Well apart from all the preparations for the conference, we've been working really really hard in our area to have more people to teach. But like i've said there are almost no members in our area and we had to start from scratch. But we met Anabel, who is the wife of a less active member, and she went to church this sunday and she liked it! So that was way cool. We also found an older couple who is struggling because the señor was recently diagnosed with cancer, but because of this he has a strong desire to get closer to God. So we have been starting to work with them as well, but they seem very excited and willing to learn and accept the Gospel. We also have been planning activities in the ward for Christmas and we were put in charge of it again, haha. So this Friday we are going to have a ward Christmas activity but we have to prepare everything so it's going to be kind of tough to get all ready with the conference tomorrow, but we can do it:)

Well we were able to have a really cool experience with a family this week. As district leader i get to go on divisions with all the elders in my district, so on monday i went with Elder Knight to his area and we had a family home evening night with a less active family, and we taught about Joseph Smith and the restoracion. She had a couple of kids that were running around and screaming the whole time so it seemed like the hermana was a little distracted the whole time. But finishing the lesson and bearing our testimonies about the book of mormon, i shared Alma 5:26, that talks about having a change of heart, and we asked her if really she has been able to feel a change of heart in her life having the gospel, and she started to cry and tell us all of the challenges she was passing through, and that in this lesson she was able to remember why she got baptized in the first place and remember that God really does love her and watches out for her. And it was just a really really cool lesson! I feel like i don't share a lot of these experiences with you but i'll try to get better at it! Because really it's these type of experiences that makes the mission the greatest thing ever!! 

So im SUPERRR excited to talk to you guys in 2 weeks!!!! I'm not exactly sure at what time or anything the call will be yet, but i will be letting you guys know soon. I love oyu guys! and i hope you all have a great week!:)

Also i thought you guys might think it would be funny to hear that today i ripped my 3rd pair of pants... and it happened in front of the whole zone. haha, so that was kind of embarassing. I gotta learn how to sow!

con mucho amor,

Elder Pajarito