Can you say AWESOME Zone Conference?

I can.

Hello family! Everyone! Thanks for the emails and the warm fuzzies I get when I read your words of encouragement!

So this week went a little better for us than the last, but Elder Escobar continue to make a lot of changes so that we can qualify to see more miracles here, in Xochitenco, Chimalhuacan. Mom, just so you know, Brady Crump's email address changed (like mine did) so if you can forward these emails to xxx now that would be sweet. He's having a good bunch of success, and I'm way proud of him. Man I've been so blessed to have such great friends!

So last week, as you can guess by the title of my email, we had a really awesome Zone Conference with half of the mission. It was really good for my companion and I because we figured out a few of the things we need to change in order to have more success. It always amazes me that when we pray and ask for answers to our questions, the Lord always provides us with the answer. BUT, we always to need to keep our eyes peeled for that answer, and pay attention to the feelings that come to our hearts when we hear the words of the leaders that the Lord has chosen to be over us--because He always inspires them in a way that will benefit those to whom they serve. So we're definitely making some changes--very small ones, but ones that will give us great results. I also have my interview with the President this week on Thursday, which I'm really looking forward to.

Holy cow Dad...it sounds like you had an amazing birthday in Paris. I want one like that when I get back! Haha well I just really want to go to Paris. We'll have our 22nd and 46th birthdays the other way around, mine in Paris and yours in Mexico! Va? Va. But I'm glad you got to spend your birthday with a few of the people you love, and I'm certainly glad I did too.

This past week we still met many, many challenges, and I feel like I came home every night not wanting to do anything but plan for the next day and SLEEP. We came home exhausted every night, especially Saturday night, because we taught a bunch of lessons, met with a lot of people that were going to go to Church with us, and had to resolve a lot of problems with some people. I love coming home feeling that satisfying tiredness. One of our greatest challenges this week was with Eva--when we visited with her on Saturday, she told us that she no longer wanted to be confirmed. She said that after her baptism, her Mom called her and told her not to do it and all that jazz, so we had to go and talk to her, ask her why she didn't want to do it, and explain how much she needed it. Every reason for which she told us she didn't want to be confirmed was everyone reason for which she NEEDED to be confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost. She told us that she felt really confused, that she wasn't learning about the Gospel as fast as the rest of her family (the Fierros Family), and we explained that the Gift of the Holy Ghost was exactly what she needed! We kneeled together and prayed, and the three of us started to cry (Que Chillones!!) and she told us that she was going to do it. And she was confirmed yesterday.

We also were planning on having Veronica and her 2 kids, Karen and Cesar go to Church with us, but again they went to Hidalgo to visit family, and missed going to Church for the 2nd week in a row. So we had the "Charla Franca" (the Frank Discussion) with them, and explained that we would no longer be able to visit with them, and that there are thousands, literally thousands of people here who are already willing and ready to accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We could see in their eyes that they knew that what they were doing was wrong, but told us that it would be hard for them to change their lifestyle. We left on a very friendly note, and she told us to come back whenever we wanted to come eat with her (haha) and we told her she would always be invited to come to Church. That's probably the hardest decision I have to make here on the Mission--leaving people who don't show the signs of the Elect and the desire to progress. But our time here is so short, and we really need to focus ourselves on those that the Lord has already prepared to accept the Gospel. That's just how it is.

I think that's all the news I've got for you. I'm sending some pictures from the Zone Conference (we took our MIssion Panoramic Picture). The first one is of my buddy Elder Nicolas and I, then the other is of Elder Allsen and I, the 4 Elders from our "generation", and I think that's it. Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Budge

One ROUGH week.

Hello Family!

I hope everyone is doing super bien and enjoying the many trials and stresses of our daily lives! I know I am. Haha.

As implied by the subject of this email, this week was super rough for Elder Escobar and I. We started out the week really well--we had people to teach, lessons, we were finding new people to teach, and everything else. Last sunday in the afternoon, we found a really cool family of 5 people who were really interested in what we had to say--actually it was a really cool experience. We were knocking a street, contacting people and all of that, when I saw that out of the next door we were about to knock, left four people in a VW Bug, so I walked by the door and figured that no one else was home. But, my companion stopped to knock the door, and an older lady answered the door. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could come in to share a short message, and she said yes. So we came in, and a few minutes later, the people that left in the car came back and told us that they decided to come back and hear what we had to say as well. We taught a really good lesson, and we were invited to return a few days later. So we did.

We returned the Tuesday afterward, and they stood us up. We passed by in the night again, and they told us to come back the next day to teach. So we did, they were there, and we taught about the Plan of Salvation, and a couple days later about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They told us that everything was fine for Sunday and that they were going to come to Church with us. So we had them, Veronica, Karen, Cesar, and two more new investigators (Mariana and Azucena) all ready to go to Church with us on Sunday. We went to the Chapel really early in the morning to do Splits with some members so we could pick all of them up, and one by one we found that they either weren't home, went to visit family, or simply did not want to go to church anymore. So we came to church with NONE of our investigators, including the investigators that have their baptismal date for this coming Sunday, which now has to be moved back until the next week. It was really frustrating for my companion and I, but now we can figure out what we've been doing wrong and what we can change this week in order to be more successful.

On the upside, I've made it yet another without dying (that's for you, Dad!), and I now have a total of 20 years of learning here in mortality. We went to eat with Sister Alicia Duran on Friday, and she had a sweet cake ready for me after we had our Comida. My companion pushed my face into the cake, and it was pretty delicious. I'll send photos!

That's about all I have to report on this week. Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Budge

PS I'm sending another picture to show you how much weight I am losing!

Goodbye February, Hello March!

Hey there fam!

This past week has been a really, really good week for Elder Escobar and I. We were able to participate in yet another saving ordinance yesterday, but not without experiencing plenty of trials and obstacles. Eva, the sister of a recent convert of ours, was our focus this past week and the Lord has blessed us immensely in helping us help her.

We had a few lessons with her last week, mainly focusing on the Restoration and the Atonement, to help her feel the need to be baptized, and how it was going to help her family. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with her, and she began to cry, and told us that she wanted to be baptized, but didnt want to do it right away. She told us she was afraid of being rejected by her family, and that her own children were telling her not to do it. It was really tough--most of the time Elder Escobar and I have to help people resolve problems that are very much outside of our personal experience. That is when having the companionship of the Holy Ghost really helps us out--we remember things we have learned and say words we really didnt have ready to say, and it has been a huge blessing and help for us. After talking with her for a while, she told us that she didnt want to be baptized that coming Sunday.

The next day, her sister, Veronica (our recent convert) told us that her sister had told her that she had changed her mind. We didnt know why, but Eva had decided that she wanted to be baptized, and soon. We visited with her, and she explained to us that she wanted to be baptized that Sunday (yesterday), and that her daughter wanted to be baptized too! She spoke with her daughter, Wendy, the day before, explained what she had felt when she was with us, and Wendy told her that she too wanted to be baptized. Long story short, Eva had her interview on Saturday, and was baptized Sunday. Now we´re working with Wendy so that she can start preparing for baptism too! We have been really blessed this past week, and have started our new cycle together in a successful way. We´ll be keeping the momentum up, of course, with the prayers of all of you to help us. Thanks a ton! Love you all!

Elder Budge

PS Grandpa and Grandma! I received the package you sent for my birthday. Thanks!!! Mandy...Im still waiting for that package from Christmas Time! haha.

Hello from my new email address!

Hello family and everyone else!

You may have noticed that I am writing from a different email address. The Church just partnered up with Gmail to give us a sweet, new MyLDSMail account. It's pretty dang cool, we have a lot more space to store email and stuff like that...although I'm still waiting for all the email from my old account to migrated to this one. So if you want to email me, my new email address is: jacob.budge@myldsmail.net

This week Elder Escobar and I have had a few really cool experiences, especially with Amalia and Miguel, a couple that has lived together for 27 years but have never been married! Getting them married has been our main focus with them, and last week they both told us that they were willing to get their papers in order so we can head out to a judge (a friend of all the missionaries) in the next city over to get em hitched. But, there have been a few hiccups along the way. Last week, after teaching the Plan of Salvation, Miguel told us that he no longer wanted to visit with us, and that we should come back in a month to see if he's ready to begin to progress again. The next day, he was attacked by 12 dogs, and started to have severe problems with his spine--needless to say, since then he has willfully attended all of our lessons with his wife, has fulfilled all of the commitments we have left with them, and has been progressing very rapidly. Sometimes it's funny the way Lord lets us know that we're doing what's right or what's wrong.

This past week, we visited with Amalia while Miguel was sleeping (because of his back problems) and she told us that she didn't want to marry Miguel. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! After 27 years of living together, how could that be possible?! We read the Book of Mormon together, got on our knees, and had her pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She started to cry, and after the prayer, she looked at me and said, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." We returned two days later, and both were ready and willing to be married and to be baptized. If everything goes as planned, we'll get both done this week. When we visited them Miguel told us, very sincerely, "What if you two are angels sent from God, and 10 years from now I'll be able to stand up in the congregation and tell everyone that God sent angels to my wife and I?" I was deeply touched by that comment, especially because that was a major theme of the Zone Conference we had on Wednesday. Elder Holland said (paraphrasing): "Welcome to the work of angels. In the eyes of God and in the hearts of the members who pray for you, you are those angels". I will not soon forget that day. And the memory of it will be even sweeter when we enter the waters of baptism on Sunday! Please, please pray that all will go well with them this week.

That's all the news I've got for you. I'm going to attach some pictures of the service we did this morning. One of them is of me doing my personal favorite of all the work positions...supervising! hahaha. But before then I was rockin the pickaxe like you wouldn't believe!

Elder Budge

Oh how lovely was the morning!

Hi!

I'm feeling pretty good today family and friends. I had a dream last night that I was hanging out with John and Jordan Crespo and Jordan and I were speaking spanish so John felt pretty left out. Just thought I'd share that with you.

Last week I had the awesome privelege of receiving a good chunk of mail from the good ol' US of A. I got a package sent from the Primary (AWESOME) with a big poster and a picture of the Primary. I'm a fan! And I received mail from Sister Savage (thank you) and letters from Grandma and Grandpa and Ally and Emily, postmarked in November! I did enjoy feeling like it was Christmas again for a minute or two. Haha. Thanks a ton for the support!

This week has been a typical week--tons of work! We've been knocking probably hundreds of doors, and we're trying to figure out the best way to get the members to help us out to find new people to teach and to help re-activate less active families. It's a good time and a half! I can't believe how fast the days are flying by. The time I have here in the mission is so short.

Sunday was a day that I will not soon forget. Elder Escobar and I went to pass by for some investigators to bring them to Church, and when we got there, the Fierro Family was there, seated on the front row, ready to be confirmed. It was very reverent, as there was none of the usual noise and music from outside the Chapel, someone had decorated the pulpit with flowers, and all that could be heard was the chirping of birds (sounds lame but it's true!). It was fast and testimony meeting, which everyone knows can get a little risky with new investigators (because most of the time the members think that it's "Fast and Share a twenty minute story about something that happened to you this week" meeting). But it was especially reverent, and a very doctrinally-sound Tesimony meeting. I absolutely loved it. I can feel that this ward is really ready to begin blossoming the way that the Lord wants it to blossom.

My companion and I traveled a good distance to get to our nearest WalMart so we could get some pictures developed for our recent converts...but it was closed! Again! We were pretty bummed. Actually, today we've experienced a lot of adversity just trying to get things done here.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Jacob Aaron Budge Montoya

La Perla Cuñao!

Hey Family!

This week has been yet another excellent week here in the Perla. The work is moving right along.

But, this week was also one of the most challenging weeks of my life. As I explained last week, the Fierros Family had there baptismal date set for January 31 (yesterday), so it was a week of a lot, a lot of trials for them. They had some pretty weird, unreasonable, and awkward challenges this past week. This is what happened.

On Tuesday we showed up at the usual hour, 8 o clock, to share the Finding Faith in Christ video with them, and when we came in to their house, we noticed that Viridiana was not there. We watched the video anyway, and it was really really awkward. Afterward we asked a few questions, testified of the divine mission of Christ, and then asked them what was going on. They told us that there had been a huge domestic dispute between all of them, and that they thought that Viridiana might not be willing to continue in the Church anymore. Yikes! They told us that her mother-in-law had come in the morning, and had told her that if she gets baptized in the Church, people were going to go kill her and junk like that. So we went to Viridiana´s house and talked with her really well, and told us that she was firm in her decision to be baptized.

A couple of days later, we came to their home and had sort of an intervention with all of them, discussed the problem, had family prayer together, and a classic family hug afterward. Things were great. ...Until the next day. The following night they told us that their nephew had an evil spirit with him and that they were all freaked out about it. We called President Bulloch and asked him what to do. He told me very frankly: NEITHER YOU NOR YOUR COMPANION HAVE MY PERMISSION TO TALK WITH HIM, BE IN HIS PRESENCE, OR EVEN CLOSE TO HIM. UNDERSTOOD? I replied YES. So we sent a member of the Stake High Council and the High Priests Director over to his house to figure that out.

Their interview came, they all passed, and to make a long story a little less long, they were baptized yesterday. I am extremely content with the work Elder Escobar and I have been able to accomplish in the 3 weeks we have had together. I will never, ever forget baptizing them. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Remember that the Church is true; most of the time that is all we really need to know.

Elder Budge

The Fierro Family and a bunch of pictures. You're welcome!

Hello family!

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