Some of you may have noticed that I didn´t write last week. Let me explain. I wrote a huge letter last week and attached a bunch of pictures, but when I went to click “Send” the power went out at the internet café and my letter got deleted with everything. Bummer. So I’ll try to cover the past two weeks in this letter—so it will be like the 2 episode special of your favorite television or radio program.
So last week was a pretty amazing week. On the 12th, Elder Cardenas and I headed to temple grounds, along with the rest of our district, to receive our new companions. I received my new, semi-green companion, Elder Escobar, and the work has been absolutely phenomenal. We have had a success that I have never seen before. Our first night together, we went to do “Celestial References” (aka knocking doors) and knocked a huge street called Xocoyotl. We knocked one side of the street, with little/no success, and started back down the other side of the street—again, with very limited success. We came to one of the last three houses on the street, knocked on the outside gate, and Luis Enrique answered the door. We explained who we were and what we were doing, and asked him if we could come in and share our message. He was really hesitant and told us we could come inside the gate and explain quickly because he was busy. We entered and were just about to start when his 23-year-old daughter, Vidiriana, came out of the house and said “Pasenle!” Which, being interpreted, means “Come in!”. Of course, we didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation and walked right past Luis Enrique into his home. We taught about the Restoration to Luis Enrique, his wife Veronica, and two of his children, Vidiriana and Eva. They all accepted the invitation to read and pray, and accepted their baptismal date of the 31st of January. It was great. But, it gets even awesomer.
We returned a few days later to check with the commandments (Word of Wisdom, Chastity, Tithing) and halfway through the lesson, their other son, Mauricio, entered the room and sat down with us. We invited him to read the Restoration pamphlet and pray about it as well. When we asked the rest of the family if they had read and prayed, they all answered yes, and said that they knew that it was true! Vidiriana told us that she had had an amazing dream directly after praying about the Book of Mormon, and knew that she needed to be baptized and raise her children in the Church. Yes! We came back a few nights later, and Mauricio also had read the pamphlets (yes, all of them) and prayed, and told us that God gave him the answer that he needed to listen to everything that we teach, because it is true. They came to church that first Sunday, loved it, and had a ton of really good questions for us afterward. I have never seen a family progress so quickly.
So the next week (this week), we organized a trip to the Visitor’s Center in Mexico City with the Fierro Family (those five of whom I just explained) and they absolutely love it. We had a nice little tour with some sister missionaries, and sat down to watch a movie about eternal families. And what do ya know, the movie we watched in the Visitor’s Center starred none other than SHAUNA THOMPSON! Yep, Alexa’s mom! Ha I could stop laughing to myself. It was weird seeing her with an over-dubbed Spanish voice. But that’s pretty much the end of the story. They have their baptismal interview on Friday, and, if all goes well, will be baptized on Sunday. I’ll be sure to send photos.
Last week Beatriz and Rebeca were baptized, and that was pretty great as well. I’ve attached some pictures of soccer, when I received my Christmas package, our trip to the Visitor’s Center, eating tacos, and I think that’s all. Have a good week!
Elder Budge
