hey family.
that was awesome to recieve letters from all of you this week and from
grandpa and grandma, and read about landon. thanks for writing me.
i liked jacksons summer schedule, sounds pretty good to me! ha. and
it sounds like slater and everyone had an awesome time at space
camp. i´m pretty jealous about that, not gonna lie. ha. but i
liked the pics. did they win their mission? you can tell
slater that yes i get his letters and jackson that the weirdst thing
i´ve eaten was cow stomach. i´m looking forward to eating iguana
though, apparently they eat that sometimes here. i hear a missionary
here will eat it on average like 4 times in his mission. also we
found out that we´ve probably eaten dog. its a pretty big problem
around here. because most of the food shops are self owned and dog
meat is really really cheap because there are like 100´s of dogs just
running around in the streets. so these buisnesses will just kill the
dogs and give you the food w-o you knowing it! yikes. its illegal but
that doesnt stop anyone in mexico-- yikes eh?
anyway.
this weeks been pretty good. we found some new people who i
seriously thought were going to come to church this week. man they
were super excited and said they were coming. They all have cars
so we werent even going to have to pass by to pick them up. but
only 1 of 13 came. so frustrating. ha. i think we´re going to have to
send members to pass by their houses in the mornings or something.
because i know once these people go the first time it wont be a
problem, they´ll want to come more and more. but we just have to
put in the effort to get them there.
my comp got sick this week. well yesterday. he had a fever. I think
he´s feeling better now. i dunno. i think he might have just been
tired. but whatever it was he didnt want to leave the house yesterday
and slept most the day. but we got to watch the 24th of july
broadcast from the tabernacle choir which was cool. they announced
it as a pioneer broadcast and so we were going to bring investigators,
but we didnt have time to invite anyone cuz my comp was sick. but
its probably better that we didnt invite anyone because it was
seriously just straight 4th of july songs and songs about how legit
the united states is. there were like 2 pioneer songs ha. it was
kind of awkward actually because we were there with all mexicans
and it was just like silent haha.
glad to hear moms camp went well. i´m hoping all goes well with dads
this week! and that those boys can have an awesome spiritual
experience.
we might have a baptism this week, if not this week for sure the next
one. his names J. he´s super super awesome. his wife is a
member, but he´s never listend to the missionaries. we´re teaching
him and he´s very ready. only problem is he´s one of those people
who thinks they have to know like 100 scriptures of the bible and be
able to recite them all or something before he can be baptized. but
we´ve been praying a ton with him and i think he´ll be baptized this
week!
anwyay. love ya.
-elder lloyd
Letter #41 07/18/11 hey fam
hey fam.
ah those pics of powell look so great. looks like you all had a
blast. and it was good to hear that jack and lexi could get the
anchors all set in well. and that slater and parker were such a good
help with the clean up crew!! i´m definitely jealous. also tell
patrick a big thanks for sending me that summary of their trip. ha so
funny. i could definitely hear kameron and katie talking as i read
it. i´m only about half way through though cuz it was super long.
i put it in the smallest font and widened the page and it was still 8
pages long! ha. but i´m glad that everything went well there.
sounds like it was a pretty amazing experience.
this week has been a bit depressing to be honest. every saturday
we get our hopes up so much that our investigators will come to the
church. we had over 10 that we had visited the day before that said
they were planning on going and we planned on passing to pick up 5 of
them but sunday came and no one showed up and the people we went to
look for werent there. it was super depressing. its a terrible
feeling when no one comes because you just feel like a failure.
because we spend the whole week teaching and giving our effort to
bring the spirit, all so that the people will have desires to attend
church on sunday and feel the spirit there. its super disappointing
when they dont come. and if they dont come, they dont progress. so
its been a bit rough this week but we´re excited to get starting
again. we have an appointment with a drunk guy we found, -- dont
know if i told you about him. we found him in the street and he said
he wanted to change his life -- which is what every drunk says. -- but
we told him we´d visit him in his house and we gave him a pamphlet.
and we´ve taught him a couple lessons now and we visited him yesterday
and he accepted to be baptized so we´ll see what happens with that.
there are seriously like 20 people we´re teaching right now. all
are such good people. but sadly i think we´re going to have to stop
teaching some of them if they dont start to progressar. we´re here to
harvest, not to plant is what all the missionaries say here ---- i
think we´re here to do a bit of both. but we definitely cant teach
people who dont progress!
anway.
this week i´ve been thinking a lot about the atonement and how the lord
understands our pains. both physically and spiritually. i was reading
a general conference talk about it and it helped me to realize some
things. first the lord knows exactly how to help us in our trials.
we have our trials for a reason. they make us stronger. they help us
to be humble. they help us to become reliant on the lord. but i also
learned that one of the reasons that we at times feel pain is so that
we can also understand, in some infinitely small way, how christ felt
when he suffered for us. his suffering he felt was an infinite pain.
he felt the pains of everyone who´s ever lived and who will live.
when we feel pain we began to understand a little better really what
he has done for us. and in the obra misional this is something
incredibly important because if we dont understand what the lord has
done for us how can we help others to understand it.
i love the scripture in ether 12 that talks about our weaknesses, but
i think in that verse we can also substitute- challenges, struggles,
or pains. when we feel pains and we turn to the lord we become
stronger and our faith grows and we become better servants in the
hands of the lord.
may we all find ways to be patiente in our afflictions and always
remember him who suffered all things,
in the name of jesus christ, amen.
to answer some of your questions
-the brother of my president of the mission is still in the hospital.
he didnt die. he just got attacked and shot. there are a lot of
robberies here. if you see some of the older men without their shirts
on -- a lot of the time they have some pretty nasty scars from where
people have stabbed them with machettes. --- but dont worry. mostly
it happens in the middle of the night -- when missionaries are locked
up in their houses =)
anyway. tell jackson and slater i love them so much. tell them to be
good. remember who they are --- holders of the holy priesthood of
god. thats something sacred and powerful. and those that hold these
vessels must seek to be worthy, and then use the priesthood to help
others. how awesome that slater and jack were there together doing the
sacrament. cant wait till we can all three be there together.
love you all.
tell the relatives a big thanks for their letters
-elder lloyd
ah those pics of powell look so great. looks like you all had a
blast. and it was good to hear that jack and lexi could get the
anchors all set in well. and that slater and parker were such a good
help with the clean up crew!! i´m definitely jealous. also tell
patrick a big thanks for sending me that summary of their trip. ha so
funny. i could definitely hear kameron and katie talking as i read
it. i´m only about half way through though cuz it was super long.
i put it in the smallest font and widened the page and it was still 8
pages long! ha. but i´m glad that everything went well there.
sounds like it was a pretty amazing experience.
this week has been a bit depressing to be honest. every saturday
we get our hopes up so much that our investigators will come to the
church. we had over 10 that we had visited the day before that said
they were planning on going and we planned on passing to pick up 5 of
them but sunday came and no one showed up and the people we went to
look for werent there. it was super depressing. its a terrible
feeling when no one comes because you just feel like a failure.
because we spend the whole week teaching and giving our effort to
bring the spirit, all so that the people will have desires to attend
church on sunday and feel the spirit there. its super disappointing
when they dont come. and if they dont come, they dont progress. so
its been a bit rough this week but we´re excited to get starting
again. we have an appointment with a drunk guy we found, -- dont
know if i told you about him. we found him in the street and he said
he wanted to change his life -- which is what every drunk says. -- but
we told him we´d visit him in his house and we gave him a pamphlet.
and we´ve taught him a couple lessons now and we visited him yesterday
and he accepted to be baptized so we´ll see what happens with that.
there are seriously like 20 people we´re teaching right now. all
are such good people. but sadly i think we´re going to have to stop
teaching some of them if they dont start to progressar. we´re here to
harvest, not to plant is what all the missionaries say here ---- i
think we´re here to do a bit of both. but we definitely cant teach
people who dont progress!
anway.
this week i´ve been thinking a lot about the atonement and how the lord
understands our pains. both physically and spiritually. i was reading
a general conference talk about it and it helped me to realize some
things. first the lord knows exactly how to help us in our trials.
we have our trials for a reason. they make us stronger. they help us
to be humble. they help us to become reliant on the lord. but i also
learned that one of the reasons that we at times feel pain is so that
we can also understand, in some infinitely small way, how christ felt
when he suffered for us. his suffering he felt was an infinite pain.
he felt the pains of everyone who´s ever lived and who will live.
when we feel pain we began to understand a little better really what
he has done for us. and in the obra misional this is something
incredibly important because if we dont understand what the lord has
done for us how can we help others to understand it.
i love the scripture in ether 12 that talks about our weaknesses, but
i think in that verse we can also substitute- challenges, struggles,
or pains. when we feel pains and we turn to the lord we become
stronger and our faith grows and we become better servants in the
hands of the lord.
may we all find ways to be patiente in our afflictions and always
remember him who suffered all things,
in the name of jesus christ, amen.
to answer some of your questions
-the brother of my president of the mission is still in the hospital.
he didnt die. he just got attacked and shot. there are a lot of
robberies here. if you see some of the older men without their shirts
on -- a lot of the time they have some pretty nasty scars from where
people have stabbed them with machettes. --- but dont worry. mostly
it happens in the middle of the night -- when missionaries are locked
up in their houses =)
anyway. tell jackson and slater i love them so much. tell them to be
good. remember who they are --- holders of the holy priesthood of
god. thats something sacred and powerful. and those that hold these
vessels must seek to be worthy, and then use the priesthood to help
others. how awesome that slater and jack were there together doing the
sacrament. cant wait till we can all three be there together.
love you all.
tell the relatives a big thanks for their letters
-elder lloyd
Letter #40 07/11/11 Hey Ya'll!
hows it going in powell!!! i hope you{re all having tons of fun! it
feels a little bit weird not being there to be honest and knowing
youre all there, i cant remember a year without lake powell. super
weird. oh well. i guess this is 1 of 2 trips to powell i{ll miss
out of the way. idk if you{ll read this while youre at lake powell,
but if you do, tell jackson to give kam a good push off the tube for
me =) haha. no i{m just kidding. but i seriously hope youre all
doing well and that no ones too sunburned yet and that all the boats
are working well and everything. last year was a bit of a bummer with
our boat! i hope you got it all working!!
this weeks been good. we had another conference with the
mission president. ah he{s such an incredible guy. and satans
hitting him pretty hard right now. his brother got shot the other
day! and he{s in pretty bad condition so keep him in your prayers.
turns out my companion didnt get changed so we{re here together for
another 6 weeks. ha. mostly i{m just going to
focus on making sure i{m doing everything that i should be doing.
being obedient. and giving all i{ve got. the mission president told
me i need to focus on diligence, obedience, and love for everyone that
i come in contact with this transfer so those are my goals.
we{ve got some pretty good investigators. we{ve got 3 that could be
baptized not this saturday but the next so we{re really working hard
there. they came to church this last week and really liked it so i{m
pretty excited about that!
-other random stuff that happened this week
-someone broke into the chapel here in Carmen. the leaders of the
church here didnt even call the police. they said that it
happens all the time. but they cant actually take anything. i
think the robbers actually went away with like 16 pesos or something
like that. thats like a dollar and fifty cents. but they did some
substantial damage to the building getting in which is too bad.
-- i talked with elder tlachi this week by phone. he{s doing super
well. and he{s going to be a zone leader now! cool eh? what a cool
guy. i hope i can be his companion again later in the mish! that{d be
sweet. maybe when we{re both in the offices. idk. it{d be cool
well i gtg. thanks so much for taking the time to write me even
though you were super busy getting ready for lake powell.
love ya all.
stay safe.
-elder lloyd
Letter #39 07/04/11 Hey Hey Hey!!
hey fam!
mostly i{m pretty jealous of you all right now! up at the cabin, going
to parades and rodeos!! that sounds like a ton of fun! sounds like
you guys are going to have a pretty busy july!! but thats good. i
hope you all have a ton of fun up there and at lake powell next week.
i have to say thats one of the things i{m going to miss the most this
year! lake powell!!
today we got together with all the companionships in the zone and
went to dairy queen! it was the 2 year anniversary of one of the
elders joining the church! imagine that! with less than two years in the
church he decided to serve a mission!! he has like 4 months in the
mission! geez. i think its pretty crazy. but we all ate ice cream and
then sang the usa national anthem -- our zone is mostly gringos. i think
there are 2 or 3 mexicans and everyone else is from the united states.
to answer your questions--
my shoes are holding up well. yes it rains every day and my shoes
usually get wet inside and out. but they are always dry by the next
day. idk. boots would be nice but that would be a big pain to send
them all the way here wouldnt it? i did get your other package this
week. oh my oatmeal cream bars!!! i was soo happy! and i{m also very
grateful for the towels you sent! one thing that you could send are
those symphany bars. the chocolate usually does melt a little getting
here, but i just keep the whole package in the fridge so everything
is nice and cold.
this week we had a zone conference with the mission president! we
talked a lot about contacting and how at times we forget the reason why
we contact. they ask us to do 140 per week. thats 10 per day per
companion. which doesnt sound like a lot. but it seriously feels like
a ton at times. but it really only feels like a ton because we forget
at times why we are doing it. we talked a ton in the conference
about how every contact is a moment that you{re giving that person to
receive a personal message from a representative of jesus christ.
whether or not the person accepts -- really isnt our problem. if we
listen to the spirit in every contact and try to tell the person what
the lord would tell them if he was there in front of him. and at
times its hard because youre super super tired and to do an effective
contact requires energy. but my companion and i are going to work
really hard this week to do better in our contacts!! and make them
more full of the spirit, to do our contacts more like the lord would do
them, so that every person with whom we speak has the best opportunity
to accept the invitation of the lord to come unto him.
this might be my last week with elder romero. he has a ton of time in
this area. about as much time as i had in my last area. so he
might be getting transferred. The president gets
mad at him every time he sees him because my companion wont
put a good part in his hair. ha the president wants us all to look like
david a bednar. ha.
but anyway.
have a great week. be safe at powell!!! have tons of fun!
-elder lloyd
mostly i{m pretty jealous of you all right now! up at the cabin, going
to parades and rodeos!! that sounds like a ton of fun! sounds like
you guys are going to have a pretty busy july!! but thats good. i
hope you all have a ton of fun up there and at lake powell next week.
i have to say thats one of the things i{m going to miss the most this
year! lake powell!!
today we got together with all the companionships in the zone and
went to dairy queen! it was the 2 year anniversary of one of the
elders joining the church! imagine that! with less than two years in the
church he decided to serve a mission!! he has like 4 months in the
mission! geez. i think its pretty crazy. but we all ate ice cream and
then sang the usa national anthem -- our zone is mostly gringos. i think
there are 2 or 3 mexicans and everyone else is from the united states.
to answer your questions--
my shoes are holding up well. yes it rains every day and my shoes
usually get wet inside and out. but they are always dry by the next
day. idk. boots would be nice but that would be a big pain to send
them all the way here wouldnt it? i did get your other package this
week. oh my oatmeal cream bars!!! i was soo happy! and i{m also very
grateful for the towels you sent! one thing that you could send are
those symphany bars. the chocolate usually does melt a little getting
here, but i just keep the whole package in the fridge so everything
is nice and cold.
this week we had a zone conference with the mission president! we
talked a lot about contacting and how at times we forget the reason why
we contact. they ask us to do 140 per week. thats 10 per day per
companion. which doesnt sound like a lot. but it seriously feels like
a ton at times. but it really only feels like a ton because we forget
at times why we are doing it. we talked a ton in the conference
about how every contact is a moment that you{re giving that person to
receive a personal message from a representative of jesus christ.
whether or not the person accepts -- really isnt our problem. if we
listen to the spirit in every contact and try to tell the person what
the lord would tell them if he was there in front of him. and at
times its hard because youre super super tired and to do an effective
contact requires energy. but my companion and i are going to work
really hard this week to do better in our contacts!! and make them
more full of the spirit, to do our contacts more like the lord would do
them, so that every person with whom we speak has the best opportunity
to accept the invitation of the lord to come unto him.
this might be my last week with elder romero. he has a ton of time in
this area. about as much time as i had in my last area. so he
might be getting transferred. The president gets
mad at him every time he sees him because my companion wont
put a good part in his hair. ha the president wants us all to look like
david a bednar. ha.
but anyway.
have a great week. be safe at powell!!! have tons of fun!
-elder lloyd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)