Cambios, Baptism & Ice Cream for Breakfast!!

Cambios!

And I didn't have any -- AGAIN!!! Hahahaha!!

I'm about to complete 10 months in the mission, and I've only been in the South of the City!!! It's cool because I know a bunch of members and half the city of Chihuahua like the back of my hand. When I come back here (and I'm totally coming back here in like November 2018!) I can show you guys (or whoever I'm with) Chihuahua bien chido (so cool!)! Honestly, I'm pretty stoked to be here a lil while longer, we should see some really awesome things going on here in la estaka Chuviscar (the Chuviscar Stake)! 

But yea, the Zone had changes, and guess who is in Girasoles, as a DISTRICT LEADER????

ELDER TEMPLETONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT!!

And we had some other changes, but really the Zone seems to be really awesome right now :) If things keep going this well we should have a really good week -- we've seen some real miracles thus far, but I don't wanna count the chickens before they hatch, so I'll give you a full update on how everything goes at the end of this week :D But good things are in the works, if we stay humble and worthy of these blessings!

This week we had a miracle, Pepe got baptized! I shared a little bit about him and gave you some pictures of him the last wee.  He asked me to baptize him when we visited him, and I was able to accommodate that request two days ago! It was really cute, when we were in the service, he said 'this is the most important thing in my life' -- He was so stinking cute!!!  I loved it! :)

Also we've seen some cool things here in Chihuahua, like we went to visit a grandma in el barrio, and her son is in the military, and theres a mexican eagle made out of grenades and guns and stuff - it's so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, Elder Arellano is leaving! You guys remember him from my first area, he's like one of my best friends here in the mission!!!! That kid is a baller. He'll do some good things in life!

I also did divisions again with Elder Postman -- and we ate Ben and Jerry's for breakfast! We haven't had it for almost a year, and well, he didn't have any food and we didn't know if we'd have combos (changes) and since we knew there was a possibility we might not have the chance to eat it again (its only sold in some stores and in some areas), so yea, we had ice cream for breakfast and it was awesome. No regrets.

Life is good here. A lot of new missionaries think I'm Mexican, they're always so surprised when I tell them I'm from California! Hahaha! :)

Bueno, that's pretty much it!!!! I'll keep you guys updated on everything. Keep that list of music and movies going, Okay????? 

Thanks!!!! I love you guys!!!!! Have a great week!!

Nick

A Good Foundation to Build On!

Bueno Hey mom! 

How are you?? I hope everythings good. This week has been pretty good, we did a lot of divisions!!! And I got to spend a day with Elder Hostman, a good friend, and Elder Lopez, mi papi!!! And well, it was really awesome! 

We went to visit a kid that's gonna get baptized, and they live soooooo far!!! Like sosososososo FARRRR!! But it's worth the travel time, because they live in a really cool little town where there's a lot of cool things to see, so yea, I have a few pictures for you this week. This kid is pretty cool too, and the purpose of our visit was to talk to him about his desire to be baptized and make sure he understood what it means to be baptized -- and then he told me that he wanted me to baptize him! I was honestly really excited about that! Hahaha! He's such a nice little guy!!! And he knows so much about the Book of Mormon, like it's crazy. The kid literally had whole stories memorized by heart!!!

Then Elder Zaragoza y yo went to see another family. They have a really heartbreaking story, but bottomline, basically the 81 year old Grandmother is raising her 9 year old Grandson, and he has a type of ADD so he struggles to be still and stay focused, and the poor guy has a hard time making friends too. So, I went to see him, and after just spending some time with him, talking with him and just being his friend, it was time to go and his Grandmother told me that I have a gift, and it was so sweet! :) Honestly, my heart just kinda broke for this family and I really want to help them so much. So, yea, they're awesome.

And then we had another moment that was pretty special. I think I've already shared a similar experience from a while ago, but it happened again!  We went to visit someone, and when they prayed, they pratically said 'thank you God for sending me these missionaries because I know they're prepared, or like comissioned, to help me get close to you'... and it was just the coolest experience. It was a confirmation of what we do here in Mexico! :)

And well, there was a lot of groundwork this week that should be a good foundation for us to follow up and build on -- so we should have a good week! :) I'll be sure to fill you in!!!!!!

And well, that's kinda all I have! I hope you guys have a good week! 

Till next time,

Nick

Special Changes!!

Hola Familia!!

We had special changes!!! After 9 weeks with Elder Chan, he left for Cuautehmoc, and now I'm with Elder Zaragoza, or 'el Jefe', como lo llama ('the Boss', as I call him). He's super awesome and a really good missionary.  We get along really good too, so I'm excited to see what will happen here!

Okay, so something crazy in the mission is that we are losing a lot, like a LOT, of leaders, including the Assistants to the President in these next two cycles, or 9 weeks. So we have a lot of young District Leaders and a few of us young Zone Leaders, and a lot of times it's really daunting. But it goes like that in life too, when we get a calling that's not easy, or that kind of thing. Basically something that makes us scared or makes us feel unprepared or unworthy or really anything like that, and I was looking for help in the aspect. And I thought and found a couple cool things,

1.) God doesn't always call the qualified, He always qualifies the called,

2.) I was thinking about some of the best leaders in the Book of Mormon, and almost always we think of Capitan Moroni. And so I decided to study a little more about him, and found a lot of incredible things, but the thing that really surprised me more than anything else was that when he was put in charge of all the armies, he was 25. He was 25 years old and completely in charge of an entire army. I have to imagine that even though he was an amazing man with amazing faith, he was a little worried. But he put all his faith in God, and always sought His help and guidance in his calling. And in the end, the scriptures tell us he'll be remembered as this:

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.  

That's pretty cool right? And that could be like us if we stay faithful and humble in our callings. 

Someone else that really inspired me was Mormon. He was 16 when he was put in charge of an army... and that's just nuts to me. 

Mormon 2:2 Therefore it came to pass that in my sixteenth year I did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the Laminates (in Spanish it's clearer and literally says when I had 16 years of age I left).

And well, he was a stud -- so really we don't have too much to worry about right? We can do it !!!!!! 

But yea, other than that I don't have a whole lot to report back. :D 
Till next time!

With love, 
Nick

Everything is Good in Chihuahua Mexico!

Hey! 

This week has been good, crazy fast but real good! We've been really busy but it's all been really good. I don't think I have to much to write about, but everything is good! The zone is going good, and Elder Chan and I are working good together too.

We had the zone conference, and we always have it with another zone, and Elder Johnson was in the other zone so I got to see him again! He's a really good guy and a really good missionary. That's so awesome that you guys got to spend a little bit more time together as families too!! Hahaha! 

(Elder Johnson's family stayed with us for a few days following Elder Fowler's homecoming in Reno, NV last week!  After the festivities with the Fowler family, we returned home and the Johnson's began a weeks long vacation hitting all of the NorCal and SoCal hotspots - starting at our house!! :) So fun to finally meet these Elders we've been following for almost a year and their families we feel like we've known forever!)!

But yea this week has been good! We've been working and talking a lot about having the spirit and recognizing it and it's promptings -- and that's a whole book of things in and of itself, but all really good stuff! :)

 

This week we found a person that went to high school in Texas so we talked with them in English and that was honestly so weird for me. I actually have almost no idea about how to talk about religion in English, like, I had to translate what I would say into English first... it was super weird. But it was pretty cool at the same time! I'll keep you updated on how things go there.

Also, Presidente Montoya completed a year in the mission! And he wrote us all a letter about how he got re-energized when thinking how he felt when he first got his call, and invited us to basically do the same, and that's what I'll be working on this week! :) I'm gonna try to keep the same excitement as when I first got here in Cerro Grande. I think that could really help me as a missionary!

But yea, not a whole lot to report on this week, I'll be sure to write more and send you guys some fotos next time! :) 😁

Stay awesome, love you guys, and have a good week!

Nick