The Twenty-Seventh of December...

Hey family!!

It was so awesome to talk to all of you on Saturday, and especially to see all of your beautiful faces, including Josh's awesome beard! That thing is sweeeet.

Welp, since we've already discussed a few things on Saturday, I will answer a few questions! First of all, my companion is NOT from Brazil, he was just kidding...and he didn't understand a thing Rudy said to him on Skype. He's from the state of Chiapas, Mexico, so to answer your question, he does speak Spanish haha. He's an absolute stud, seriously every day is like hanging out with a best friend. We get a long really really well and we already have several inside jokes...so we're definitely having a good time here.

Mom, we're in the Neza/Pantitlan Zone, but geographically we're in a colony called "La Arenal" in La Delegacion Venustiano Carranza in the federal district. Sorry if I don't write a lot this week either...this keyboard is covered in dirt and dust and the keys are all sticky...it's hard to write fast and it's frustrating.

We've been working with some really cool people these past weeks, including Mari Carmen and her daughter Sandy, who got baptized on Sunday. They're so fun to teach and work with, and they both have such great testimonies of the Gospel. We were able to see some miracles this week at Church; my companion and I were really concerned because we didn't have anyone to bring to Church, and the only people we could find last week were people we weren't really planning on focusing on too much...people who said they woud maybe go to Church and things like that. But, lo and behold, on Sunday they all went to Church by themselves! It was awesome.

My companion and I have been talking a lot about the things we've learned so far in the mission, and I've been especially pensive, considering the time I have left, and I've realized that I would not have learned half of the things I have learned had I chosen to not serve. It's such a unique time, where we can forget about our personal problems, and be dedicated completely to one cause. We only read Church materials. We pray who knows how many times a day. We listen to Church music, watch Church movies, talk about teaching the Gospel, and that allows us to be taught by the Holy Ghost. Those who don't serve literally do not know what they miss out on, and they never will know it. I can't tell you how much I love being a missionary. It has been the greatest joy of my entire life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. As I've reflected on things with the "soft filter of experience", I have gained an unwavering testimony that every good and bad experience have helped me grow, although personal growth is not my objective here in the mission field. I understand why the Lord requires His Priesthood Holders to serve in His army, and I'm grateful that I made the decision to do so even when I was nowhere near understanding "why".

These next five months are going to be awesome.

Elder Budge

Skype....?

Hey Family!!!

Forgive me for leaving you all on the edges of your seats last week...the transfers came as quite a surprise. Anywho, my new companion is Elder Coutiño, and he´s a Zone Leaders...which means I have also assigned to be a Zone Leader. My companion is an absolute stud, and we´ve had an awesome week, full of excellent experiences!

We had the privelege of having a Conference with Elder Tenorio of the Seventy, who is serving in the Area Presidency here in Mexico. He taught us some awesome principles, especially what he taught about praying specifically and receiving specific answers. Sorry if this letter is a little short, my hands are freeeezing and it´s hard to type fast.

So it turns out that this year, I am officially allowed to use SKYPE and webcams to call home this Christmas!! Isn´t that awesome? We just got an email from the Missionary Department of the Church letting us know that that´s allowed!! So, I´m thinking we can talk on Saturday at 6 o clock Mexico time, and I just set up an account with SKYPE so we can do a Video Call!! It´s going to be great! So if you don´t have a webcam, BUY ONE! Set up an account on Skype, and look me up (my username is jacob.budge1 ) ok?? jacob.budge1 !!!!!

Love you all, and SEEE you on Saturday!!!

Elder Budge

PUROS MILAGROS!!

Hello Family!

Can I just tell you that I love this work! This past week has been most excellent, and as you may or may not tell, we have seen pure miracles here in our Wards!! It's incredible how much the Lord has been blessing us these past few weeks, and it seems like the miracles just keep coming. Here are a few so you can get a taste of it:

We have been working with an investigator named Pedro, who was a referral from the Zone Leaders from the Zone next to ours, and we had his baptismal interview last week. While we were waiting for him to show up to the interview, a lady came up to the Chapel and told us that she had spoken with the sister missionaries a few years ago, but that she had since then stopped going to Church and was never baptized. She said, "I think my time has finally come, and I would really like to be baptized. Can you tell me who the missionaries are that live near my house?" She gave us her address and it turns out...that WE are the missionaries that live close to her house! Needless to say, we set up an appointment, went and visited her and her family, and talked about what we had to do so they could be baptized. Turns out that her husband and her two kids, Andrea, 16 years old, and Alejandro, 8 years old, want to be baptized as well. Andrea made the suggestion that they should read the scriptures and pray together as a family every day, and they've all received witnesses that the Book of Mormon is true. Awesome. the Mom, Elisabeth, had a dream after reading Alma 32 and said she saw a tree in the middle of a field, and heard a voice that said "The seed is good and fertile" and then woke up. Miracles! We took them to the visitor's Center on Saturday night and it was pretty sweet.

Pedro had his interview, passed it (we thought he was going to need a special interview), and has been progressing a lot. I'll tell you about the baptism a little further on.

Our investigator had his interview the same day as Pedro, and he did need a special interview (we thought he was the one that wasn't going to need it), and we set up the appointment for his special interview for Sunday at 6 30 in the Visitor's Center, which leads me to our next few miracles...on Sunday.

Sunday morning I dropped my companion off at 9 o clock in the Balbuen Ward, where Irlanda was confirmed a member of the true Church, when a family of three (Mom, Dad, and son) show up to church with a family, and we were able to set up an appointment with them for this week so they can be baptized on the 26th. Miracle! Afterward, I headed out to our other Wards, first to Zaragoza to bring Elisabeth, her husband, Andrea, and Alejandro (who will be known as the Romero Family from here on out) to Church, and I left them with the Ward Missionary Leader and headed to our next Ward, in Hangares. There, Pedro came to Church, my companion showed up a little afterward (don't worry, we did splits and we weren't alone haha), and we had Pedro's Baptismal service at 2:00. It was awesome, Pedro is a big guy and we had to buy special clothes for him, and my companion almost dropped him in the baptismal font, but it was OK. We went to eat lunch with a family, and then headed to the Visitor's Center with Alejandro to have his special interview. He passed with flying colors, we headed back towards the chapel, got lost, but then showed up right on time, and had an amazing baptismal service for him at 8:30 at night. Holy tiring day....and really really rewarding.

Our goal for baptisms for this month is 5, and up until now we have been able to baptize three people in these past two weeks. The Lord has blessed us so much...according to the investigators we have that are ready to be baptized, we should end the month with about 8 to 11 baptisms. It has been absolutely incredible, and I've gained such a strong testimony of how the Lord can bless us when we humble ourselves before him. The investigators He's given us are absolutely inspiring to see...people who are truly converted to the Lord. And then...Elder Budge receives a call from the Zone Leaders.

In the midst of all this great success, I'm getting transferred tomorrow.

Elder Budge

Photos:

1. Elder Flores and I and a bag of "Fritos"...we think it's funny because we call the disobedient missionaries "Fritos". HA!

2. Me freezing my tushy off in our house during personal study...it's cold here!

3. Me and Elder Andrew Stott from the Mexico City South mission...we went to junior high together and we saw eachother in the Visitor's Center on Saturday!

4. Us and the Romero Family in the Visitor's Center.

5. Pedro's baptism.

6. Alejandro's baptism

7. The Ward Missionary leader is teaching us how to make pizza today! As I write...we are waiting for the dough to rise.

8. Me "wofting" the scent of the pizza sauce that we're making.

Great Week

Hey Family!!

How's it going?! I hope things are going well...because I didn't really hear from anyone today! Ha I guess I'm used to it. I always tell the members here that once you have a little bit of time in the mission, people just seem to forget that you're serving. But that's ok, because the work continues to move forward! We had an absolutely awesome blessing-filled week this week...I'll cover the highlights.

At the beginning of the week (Monday till Thursday) not much really happened...we had a bunch of appointments that all fell through and my companion and I wasted a lot of time going back and forth and back and forth between those appointments. No bueno. We found an awesome family of four on Tuesday that just disappeared the rest of the week...who knows where they are! But we just kept working and working and working, and really we were able to see the blessings of that hard work.

Thursday our investigator Irlanda had her baptismal interview, which, of course, she passed. We had an awesome baptismal service on Sunday for her, and her RM-friend-from-youth baptized her. When we got to the Chapel, the font was full of dirty water, so we had to empty it out. But it wasn't emptying fast enough for us to be able to re-fill it by the end of the third hour of the block...so we had to grab buckets and start emptying the font out like that! Some brothers helped us out and we were able to empty out the font, fill it back up (with clean water), and have a really nice baptismal service. Baptizing is definitely still my favorite part of the mission.

Last night we went with a member family and Irlanda to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was amazing. I especially loved the way President Eyring spoke of the Savior...you can tell that these men really are Special Witnesses of Him. I love seeing all the Christmas decorations and I can't believe that soon I will have my last Christmas in the mission...that's a weird thought.

Just so you know, I need to know when is best to call home, on the 24th or the 25th and at what time, to make sure all the fam is there. I can't do it in the morning on the 25th because we're going to have a Zone Activity in the morning that Day. I'm thinking the 25th in the afternoon, or at ANY time on the 24th. Figure it out with the plans you already have and I'll let you know where to call me.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Budge

PS I'm sending some photos...the baptism, my planner for this month, some pesos, me cleaning the baptismal font, and the ward missionary leader's daughters who wanted to pose and take pictures with us. They're hilarious.