Pictures!!!!!!!!!

Hey family, here´s a ton of photos that I´ve taken over our time here in Xicotepec, we had an awesome Zone activity today, so the majority of the photos are from that activity. I couldn´t re-size them so the pictures are really big. And it´s because of that Zone Activity that i can´t write more, I have to get going home! I´m still 2 hours away. I love all of you and hope you enjoy the pictures.

Elder Budge

P.S. I won the swing set contest, as you´ll see in the picture.

Turns out green water works too...

Hey family!!

I've had an awesome week and have a few things to tell you about so sit tight. First, I just wanted to comment on Josh working in the Primary. Ha! That's awesome. Who would of thunk it? That's all. Now on to my week...

Let's go back to last Monday when I told you that my companion had special changes because he was going to train a new Gringo! Welp, on Tuesday we started our Journey towards the Promised land of Mexico state, with our eye single to the glory of the Mexico city Temple. Three and a half hours and 234 pesos later, we arrived at the temple and Elder Cruz received his baby boy...from New Zealand! I like the new Elder...and not just because he reminds me of Flight of the Conchords. They'll do awesome.

My new companion is Elder Martinez, and he's just a stud. We've been getting to know each other this past week, working really hard to find the Lord's elect here in Xicotepec. The day after he got here, our ward Mission Leader invited us to eat dinner, and lo and behold, a lady entered into his store, told us she was a less-active member and that her son was not baptized! Of course...we didn't hesitate to make an appointment with her for the next day. That day we did divisions with the Zone Leaders, and I was with Elder Valdez (who heads home in about a week and a half). We taught Kevin (the not-baptized kid) about baptism, and he told us he wanted to wait. So we left him the task of reading and praying and we set up an appointment for the next day.

After that, we found an awesome new investigator named Araseli. We went to her house, and she basically asked us to explain the Plan of Salvation. It was already 9 o clock so we explained a little bit, left her the P of S pamphlet and set up an appointment for the next day. SO...that 'next day' of which I have been speaking was just awesome. We had about a bazillion appointments we had set up with our street contacts from the day before, and most of them fell through. Wish I could say that wasn't normal. But we went to teach Kevin, but he wasn't home, so we just talked with his mom. She told us that Kevin wanted to wait until he turns 15 to be baptized (he's 12!!!), so we just talked about not procrastinating his baptism. We returned the next day, and Kevin told us that when he prayed, he dreamed that God was talking to him, and that He simply said to him "Yes". It was pretty awesome, because we had explained to him that if he would ask a direct question, like "Should I get baptized this Sunday?", then God would give him a direct answer. So that answer was a very direct "Yes." He was interviewed on Saturday and baptized on Sunday! I love miracles.

We went and taught Araseli about the Plan of Salvation, and she had a ton of excellent questions for us. We were also able to teach her "husband" as well, and they came to Church with us on Sunday. The next task at hand will be to marry them...yikes!! But the Lord will help us find a way to get them married.

That's all the news I have. Be safe, have fun, go to the Temple! Seriously!

Elder Budge

Photos:

1. My first District as DL

2. Me and my new companion in the Chapel

3. Kevin's baptism

Give, give, give until there´s nothing left!

Hey family!

Sorry I couldn´t write a whole lot last week, those pictures took up more time than I had anticipated. You forgive me? Excellent. Thanks for all who wrote me, really it means worlds to me. I´ll try to make this letter as spiritually uplifting as can be written...while ¨I´ve got a feeling that tonight´s gonna be a good night¨ by Black Eyed Peas is being blared in this internet cafe. Haha!

First of all, I didn´t get to give my report of how absolutely amazing General Conference was! I´ll share with you some of what I consider are the ¨highlights´´ of the many talks that were given. Ready? Ok.

First of all, Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about turbulence was a really good eye-opener for me. In my District we´ve been experiencing some turbulence in the work, so it was a good reminder to take things back to basics, and really just rely on the simple impressions of the Spirit and the basic principles of missionary work: hard work, diligence, and obedience. Just what I needed to hear. I was also really impressed with Robert D. Hales´ talk about making decisions...and how we need to just simply make the same choice we made in pre-mortal life...in my opinion, that means to learn and study the Plan of Salvation, and make the decision to follow God and His prophets. As Kevin R. Duncan explained...we have prophets and apostles for a purpose! We need to listen to their counsel; if we don´t, we don´t have a reason why to get up and testify about living Prophets today. Speaking of testifying...I absolutely loved what Richard G. Scott said about testimony: It´s not emotion...a testimony is a quilt woven together by countless correct decisions. Really, it always comes back to us and how we use our agency; as Boyd K. Packer explained, no one can take our agency away from us, we can only give it away--and agency brings with it responsability.

Did you like the way all my Conference commentaries all kind of wove into each other? I didn´t even plan that but I´d say it worked out pretty well! Anyway...

These past few weeks have been a little rough. Lost of decoy investigators...but this past week. We found a pretty awesome family at 8:30 at night on Saturday! We´ve been studying a lot about diligence...and we´ve definitely been putting it into practice. We´ll see how their progress goes. We have to marry them...yikes! That means lots of travel. Oh, and my companion, Elder Cruz (who is just absolutely AWESOME...I love this man to death!) has special changes...he´s going to be training some new americans that are coming in today. We have to travel like 5 hours to go pick them up and I´ll be getting a new companion. We only had three weeks together, but that´s just the way things go sometimes. I´ll miss him a lot. Good thing he has a visa and is going to visit me in Utah. Heh heh. Anyway, I love all of you. Please remember to go to the temple as often as you can! We need to put more temples on the map!!

Have a good week, I love you all so much!

Elder Budge

Photos!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey family, not a lot of time to write, because I spent some time uploading and editing pictures to send! My week was awesome, General Conference was absolutely incredible! I'll write more next week!

Photos:

1. Bowling my last P-Day in Tecamac
2. Ice Skating in Tecamac
3. My dad, me, my son, and my grandson!
4. My new comp and I eating delicious Mac and Cheese with Chili!
5. The beautiful view from my desk every morning...you can see the missionary essentials.
6. Our Chapel in Xicotepec!
7. A banner we found in our chapel, it says "Xicotepec Ward" haha.
8. The two gringos watching Gen. Conf. in english
9. The missionaries of the Tulancingo Stake at Gen. Conf.!
10. Elder Walk and I...again.

Have an incredible week, go to the temple, and always remember that the Church is true!

Elder BudgePhotos!!!!!!!!!!!!