Eat fresh!

Helloooo Family!

Mom, thank you so much for sending David and Janna's emails to me. I'll have you know that it was the first time I received their weekly emails...very enjoyable. It seems like David is experiencing the same changes in his mission as we are in mine (could it be because the Gospel is the same in Japan and in Mexico...?). I think so. I love hearing about my cousins and their missions...the only one I really haven't heard from is Derek...flojo. And David, just so you know, "dulce" probably wouldn't work too well in that context...try again next time. Use the word "Chido" instead. It's way more Chido than dulce..

Anywho, sounds like my buddy Braden David Crump, now ex-missionary, made it home safe and sound. I still can't believe that time has gone by so quickly. It's weird. And grandma and grandpa, thanks for the update! It's definitely good to hear all the news from your point of view. My dad didn't tell me about the golf ball story while you were in Europe.

This was a really interesting week for my hijo (son) and I... we experienced some major disappointments, but we both feel really satisfied with the work we were able to do. Last P-Day we went to visit some people we had previously contacted in the street, and, surprise! False address! Haha I really wish that wasn't normal for me. I told my companion a few days before that when things like that happen, we need to find someone to talk to immediately, because the Lord knows exactly where we are. And yes, that is precisely what we did. We contacted a woman (her name is Azucena) who was walking in the street towards us, and I asked if her if it was ok if we went to her house to teach the Gospel. She said "Si!" so we went. After talking with her for a few minutes, she told us that she had already been baptized when she was little, but after her baptism her family never went to Church again. I thought things seemed a little fishy...so I asked her for her info and called the Records Secretary to ask about her. Turns out that neither she nor her family exist in the records of the Church! She has no living witnesses to her baptism so...she's just going to have to get baptized again. She'll be baptized the 1st of August.

Azucena lives here in Mexico but originally is from Veracruz; right now she's living with her Daughter and her Son-in-law, both Catholics. We were teaching her the lessons in a near-by park because her daughter wouldn't let us into her house. Azucena started talking to her neighbors to see if anyone else wanted to listen to us so we would have a place to teach, and after doing some tracting she found a super-receptive family of four who loves hearing the Gospel. There names are Sonya, Carlos, Maira, and Jesus--they have their baptismal date set up for the 8th of August, one week after Azucena. I'm sure my cousins will agree with me when I say that teaching the truly elect people prepared by the Lord is 100 times easier than teaching people who simply aren't prepared to receive the Restored Gospel. So that was really satisfying for us.

Dulce wasn't baptized this past week...everything was going fine, there were butterflies and roses all around--until her baptismal interview. She passed her interview, but the day after told us that she wanted another month in order to get baptized. She really wouldn't give us a solid reason why--she kept blaming her mom, saying that her mom would kick her out of the house if she got baptized. We talked to hear about fearing God more than fearing Man, but she wouldn't listen to us. Every time we resolved her doubts, she would return to old ones. She told us that after a month she would have everything in order so that she can get baptized. We had to drop her. Bummer...

On the bright side, Nayeli, after a very long fight, is going to get baptized this Sunday! WOOO!! So we're definitely looking forward to that. She had to take care of some personal affairs, and now that all that is out of the way, there is nothing stopping her from getting baptized this Sunday. I love the victory over Satan. When will he learn that he just can't win?

Love you all, have a great week, head to the Temple! You're so lucky you can go whenever you want!!!

Elder Budge