Hey Family,
i´m writing you a little bit earlier today, its been an interesting
p-day. we´ve been running all day. we woke up and washed the clothes
then went back to the house and made pancakes from a cake mix we found
in the house. it was super super good with that nutela that you guys
have sent me. then went to a lesson with a kid thats been going to
church and seminary for 2 months and hasnt been baptised yet! he
accepted to be baptized the 12th of november if his parents give him
permission. we´re pretty pumped for him! he´s got a big testimony.
only problem is he´ll be the only member in his family. his aunts and
uncles are members though so thats good.
thanks for the long letters this week! pretty intense week.
sounds like jack and slater got a little bit of a taste of what i went
through from 7-12 grade. yikes. i still feel stupid about that.
i wish i would have just done my homework. would have been 100 times
easier. the good thing is right now i seriously love studying and
learning. i´m hoping when i get back from the mish it´ll be the same.
so glad to hear things with moms buisness are going so well. thats
super exciting. glad to hear that jack and slater are going to the
temple plenty. we can all go together when i get back. the whole
family. bautismos por los muertos! woot.
this week we´ve been studying la Caridad. -- charity. --- as a
mission. as a mission we memorized corintians 13, that is an
incredible chapter, and i really didnt realize how incredible was
until i memorized it. you can learn something different from every
single line of that chapter. i think i´ve said it so many times that
its just getting more and more planted in my heart. it doesnt
matter how great of a teacher i am, it doesnt matter if i have all hte
knowledge or if i understand all the mysterys of god, or if my faith
is so great that i can move moutains -- if i dont have charity. i am
nothing.
as missionaries if we-re teaching lessons that are super powerful,
super beautiful, with perfect scriptures and we teach like a master,
it doesnt even matter. we have to teach with the love christ would.
i´ve been trying so hard with that this week. its not always easy to
love everyone, even the people you´ve never met. but it hit me hard
this week in a lesson with a less active family i´ve visited many
times. as we taught them i could feel a sincere amor for each of
them, and i invited them to repent and to come back to the fold of
god. the sister has been less active for more than 15 years and
honestly has lost almost all her testimony -- but she promised me that
when she went back to her home town this week she´s start attending
church again. along with her daughter.
really loving the people is the key to missionary work. when we teach
with love, we teach as the lord would. we listen to the spirit. the
spirit knows exactly what this person needs to hear to change their
heart and their life.
anyway. -- just so you know. i ´m doing well. this week we had a
baptism, jose got baptized woooooooot. my first complete family
that i´ve baptized.
anyway family i´m going to go so i can talk more with you!
-elder lloyd
Letter #55 10/24/11 Hey Fam
hey fam.
thanks for the emails and the pics. looks like you had a blast in DC!
seeing those pics made me remember of when i was there. that sure
was a fun trip. and thats super cool that you were able to go inside
the white house, and see Obama and go to that new martin luther site.
DC is a pretty legit place i´d say.
this week has been interesting. we werent able to have much success
this week numbers wise. we taught a ton of lessons and a ton of
people, but not very many accepted. we found 8 new families. i´m not
sure if any are going to progress sadly. and then because i´m a
district leader i spent all thursday and friday in the afternoon
interviewing people from other areas for baptism. that was fun. i
seriously love interviewing people for baptism. its the best part of
being a district leader. to be able to hear peoples stories, how
their lives have changed and how they´re sooo excited to be members of
the church. they have testimonies that are pure and such huge desires
to follow christ. it helps me to want to be a better missionary --
being able to hear their testimonies. sadly because i was
interviewing all thursday and friday we werent able to go to our most
important appointments in the night time. one of them being our own
baptism for the week -- j (esposo de e) we had
everything set up for his baptism. and we visited him saturday in the
morning and he said he would be there in the night time. --- but when
we got there in the night and when we had everything up-- he didnt end
up showwing up. he was working and his boss wouldnt let him leave
till 11. it was a real bummer because all the members were already
there in the baptism waiting when we found out that he wasnt going to
come.
we could have just told them all to go home, but instead we decided to
have a testimony meeting about baptism. it worked out really well.
several members gave their conversion stories, and elder jepson and i
sang a special number of parts from be still my soul mixed with
nearer my god to thee. i think all the people who came left edified.
elder jepson and i were still pretty bummed though. we were really
hoping he could be baptized and it would be a complete new family of
members. and then we might be able to go to the temple with them the
next year.
this week my companion and i are really going to focus in finding new
people to teach. and teaching with more power and authority.
this week we had one day that was especially hard. all our
appointments fell through, we couldnt find anyone to teach, and we sat
down to see who we could visit and we realized that we dont have many
investigators that are actually progressing right now. and seriously
we were super depressed. but we sat down and started taking turns
counting our blessings. and they started out super super vague --
like -- we`re alive, or we´re serving a mission. but they started
getting more and more sincere as we realized our gratitude for the
savior and for the book of mormon and the things we´ve been able to
read and learn. and the experience the lord is letting us have right
now. then we decided to share our favorites scriptures and it was
incredible how fast we were filled with strength. the spirit touched
our hearts and we were ready to work again.
i am so greatful for the peace and the comfort that comes through the
companionship of the holy ghost. he really can help us in any moment
and his presence is absolutely necessary in mision work. when he is
the senior companion -- we have so much more success. i feel at
sometimes like i forget that so easily, i just work work work but
forget that if that work is not guided by the spirit and in the way
the savior would do it -- we wont see success. success comes from
working in the way the savior would. with love, and with the spirit.
well family i´m going to cut it short.
-- i think i´ll be recieving your package later in the week at a zone
conference or tomorrow when my companion goes to villahermosa for the
day!
-much love
elder lloyd
thanks for the emails and the pics. looks like you had a blast in DC!
seeing those pics made me remember of when i was there. that sure
was a fun trip. and thats super cool that you were able to go inside
the white house, and see Obama and go to that new martin luther site.
DC is a pretty legit place i´d say.
this week has been interesting. we werent able to have much success
this week numbers wise. we taught a ton of lessons and a ton of
people, but not very many accepted. we found 8 new families. i´m not
sure if any are going to progress sadly. and then because i´m a
district leader i spent all thursday and friday in the afternoon
interviewing people from other areas for baptism. that was fun. i
seriously love interviewing people for baptism. its the best part of
being a district leader. to be able to hear peoples stories, how
their lives have changed and how they´re sooo excited to be members of
the church. they have testimonies that are pure and such huge desires
to follow christ. it helps me to want to be a better missionary --
being able to hear their testimonies. sadly because i was
interviewing all thursday and friday we werent able to go to our most
important appointments in the night time. one of them being our own
baptism for the week -- j (esposo de e) we had
everything set up for his baptism. and we visited him saturday in the
morning and he said he would be there in the night time. --- but when
we got there in the night and when we had everything up-- he didnt end
up showwing up. he was working and his boss wouldnt let him leave
till 11. it was a real bummer because all the members were already
there in the baptism waiting when we found out that he wasnt going to
come.
we could have just told them all to go home, but instead we decided to
have a testimony meeting about baptism. it worked out really well.
several members gave their conversion stories, and elder jepson and i
sang a special number of parts from be still my soul mixed with
nearer my god to thee. i think all the people who came left edified.
elder jepson and i were still pretty bummed though. we were really
hoping he could be baptized and it would be a complete new family of
members. and then we might be able to go to the temple with them the
next year.
this week my companion and i are really going to focus in finding new
people to teach. and teaching with more power and authority.
this week we had one day that was especially hard. all our
appointments fell through, we couldnt find anyone to teach, and we sat
down to see who we could visit and we realized that we dont have many
investigators that are actually progressing right now. and seriously
we were super depressed. but we sat down and started taking turns
counting our blessings. and they started out super super vague --
like -- we`re alive, or we´re serving a mission. but they started
getting more and more sincere as we realized our gratitude for the
savior and for the book of mormon and the things we´ve been able to
read and learn. and the experience the lord is letting us have right
now. then we decided to share our favorites scriptures and it was
incredible how fast we were filled with strength. the spirit touched
our hearts and we were ready to work again.
i am so greatful for the peace and the comfort that comes through the
companionship of the holy ghost. he really can help us in any moment
and his presence is absolutely necessary in mision work. when he is
the senior companion -- we have so much more success. i feel at
sometimes like i forget that so easily, i just work work work but
forget that if that work is not guided by the spirit and in the way
the savior would do it -- we wont see success. success comes from
working in the way the savior would. with love, and with the spirit.
well family i´m going to cut it short.
-- i think i´ll be recieving your package later in the week at a zone
conference or tomorrow when my companion goes to villahermosa for the
day!
-much love
elder lloyd
Letter #54 10/17/11 Hola Familia- Como estan???
hola familia.
como estan??
sounds like you{ve had a busy week. i{m pumped to hear about your
trip to DC i hope all goes well! my companion and I are doing
very well here in mexico.
to answer some of your questions,
we havent been able to teach a in a long time. her husband was
good for a while but when we started talking about baptism with him he
felt like it was too soon. and not something that he wanted to do.
yikes. and they havent been able to get married. i dont know why.
everytime we talk with them its a different excuse. which is a
bummmer. but i{m confidente that we helped her prepare more for
baptism and the lord will continue preparing her and make her
situacion more open for baptism soon. idk how but i{m hoping so much
one of these days we get a text or call from her telling us to come
visit her!
yes i bought a hammock. mostly just because i wanted one ha. this is
mexico and all the walls in the houses here have places that you can
hang hammocks up so since i arrived i{ve wanted one. its super
comfortable. my companion is way jealous haha. its a blue hammock
obviously. i{ll send you some pics soon.
j didnt end up getting baptized this week. he{s got some problems
from his past that he needs to fix up before he can be baptized.
a y d couldnt be baptized either because turns out her
husband doesnt believe in god, he believes in science.. ha. and he{s
super super control crazy and wont let them even attend church any
more.
but we{ve got a lot of new people we{re visiting that i think will be
good. we{re gearing up for november. we found a family this week
that i think is one of the poorest i{ve ever seen in my life.
family of four. the husband left them to die basically. the wife
doesnt have a job. they only eat eggs- and egg here costs 1 peso.
they dont even have enough money for rice and beans --- super super
super humble. we{re bringing her rice and beans tomorrow. and she
accepted to be baptized only she said she doesnt have a way to
get to the church --
the transfer will be mid november we want to baptize as many as we
can the first two weeks of november. i want to leave this area super
ready for the next missionary that comes!!
elder jepson is doing well. progressing well. teaching more. his
spanish is progressing. he{s a great missionary.
we{re excited to be here. i gave a talk in church this sunday on the
temple. they didnt tell me until after the meeting had started. it
was great the guy got up and was like --- and next we{ll have a talk
from elder lloyd about the temples. apparentely the person that was
going to speak didnt show up.
i love you all my family. i{m a bit tired but thats how it should
be!!! i hope i come home so tired i collapse in the airport =p that
will be a sign that i did the work well.
talk to you next week!
elder lloyd
como estan??
sounds like you{ve had a busy week. i{m pumped to hear about your
trip to DC i hope all goes well! my companion and I are doing
very well here in mexico.
to answer some of your questions,
we havent been able to teach a in a long time. her husband was
good for a while but when we started talking about baptism with him he
felt like it was too soon. and not something that he wanted to do.
yikes. and they havent been able to get married. i dont know why.
everytime we talk with them its a different excuse. which is a
bummmer. but i{m confidente that we helped her prepare more for
baptism and the lord will continue preparing her and make her
situacion more open for baptism soon. idk how but i{m hoping so much
one of these days we get a text or call from her telling us to come
visit her!
yes i bought a hammock. mostly just because i wanted one ha. this is
mexico and all the walls in the houses here have places that you can
hang hammocks up so since i arrived i{ve wanted one. its super
comfortable. my companion is way jealous haha. its a blue hammock
obviously. i{ll send you some pics soon.
j didnt end up getting baptized this week. he{s got some problems
from his past that he needs to fix up before he can be baptized.
a y d couldnt be baptized either because turns out her
husband doesnt believe in god, he believes in science.. ha. and he{s
super super control crazy and wont let them even attend church any
more.
but we{ve got a lot of new people we{re visiting that i think will be
good. we{re gearing up for november. we found a family this week
that i think is one of the poorest i{ve ever seen in my life.
family of four. the husband left them to die basically. the wife
doesnt have a job. they only eat eggs- and egg here costs 1 peso.
they dont even have enough money for rice and beans --- super super
super humble. we{re bringing her rice and beans tomorrow. and she
accepted to be baptized only she said she doesnt have a way to
get to the church --
the transfer will be mid november we want to baptize as many as we
can the first two weeks of november. i want to leave this area super
ready for the next missionary that comes!!
elder jepson is doing well. progressing well. teaching more. his
spanish is progressing. he{s a great missionary.
we{re excited to be here. i gave a talk in church this sunday on the
temple. they didnt tell me until after the meeting had started. it
was great the guy got up and was like --- and next we{ll have a talk
from elder lloyd about the temples. apparentely the person that was
going to speak didnt show up.
i love you all my family. i{m a bit tired but thats how it should
be!!! i hope i come home so tired i collapse in the airport =p that
will be a sign that i did the work well.
talk to you next week!
elder lloyd
Letter #53 One Year??? Where did that go??
 |
| Matt, his companion Elder Jepson,and the most recent converts! |
 |
| What a beautiful day!! |
BAUTISMO!!!
wahooooooooooooooooooooooooo
this week we finally had our baptismal service. woot. three
people were baptized. e and her daughter x, y una
hermana named r. we were so excited. early in the week
we werent sure if they were actually going to be baptized. but we
went and visited and we were able to help these three people realize
that this was the time. it was so great to be back in the water!
i baptized x, elder jepson baptized e and a brother from
the ward baptized r. it was neat because it was elder jepson´s
first baptism and he was so pumped. it was like christmas
day for him. ah you should have seen his face when he entered the
water. super super happy.
the baptismal service was great. super spiritual. a lot of
investigators and some recent converts from other branches came. the
primary sang a song and it was really pretty. i think everyone left
edified. especially e and x. and r.
e´s husband will be baptized the next week, with two more of our
investigators -- A y D.
other than the baptisms i´ve been super good. mi compañero y yo
estamos bien animados por tener un otro cinco semanas juntos.
we´re hoping to baptize everyweek if we can. there are so many good
people here. and he´s getting the hang of things better. he´s
speaking a lot better.
also---
i bought a hammock, super pumped about that.
i cant believe kims getting married--- what in the world????? geez.
thats so crazy. i´m so pumped for her. and the OLYMICS oh snap.
she´s got so many huge things happening for her in her life right now.
i hope so much she can accomplish everything she´s got planned and
that she´s really happy.
hard to believe i´ve been out a year -- i have a feeling sooooo
much stuff is happening in my other friends lives that i just dont
know about. its kind of scary actually. the world i left behind
isnt going to be around in a year when i get back. but thats ok.
the most important things will be there forever i´ve realized. my
family. the gospel. what more can someone ask for. life changes
everyday, the plan of salvation doesnt. the covenants we make in the
temple dont change. the atonement doesnt change. but it covers
everything. i love the lord. i love his mercy i love his
consistency. his work and glory is our eternal life, and he does
-nothing- unless it is for our good. as a missionary i try to
be as consistent as i can be. consistent in obedience, consistent in
prayer and in faith. i know that as we are consistent in doing the
correct things we will see a constant improvement in ourselves. i´ve
really seen that in the past few months. when i lose the consistency
is when we start having problems. when we´re half obedient- or we
doubt at times -- thats when the problems come. constant self
inspection to develop atributes like the savior brings a change of
heart and we start to become more like him.
great to hear you´re all well
glad slater and jack are doing so awesome in lax.
glad LP is numero uno en football. wooot. go tanner smith- /other
boys from the priests quorum
hope alls well with you all.
love you all lots. think of you daily. and youre in my prayers
-elder m.d. lloyd.
Letter #52 10/03/11
Hi all, Elder Lloyd is doing great! Here's a fun bit of our back-and-forth
emailing from yesterday, and then his main email. Have a great week!
- marci
some funny stuff thats happend this week-
yesterday my compañion and i ate something thats called -- mole,
pronounced mO - lee, its basically like dark brown mushed up
peppers, but it just looks like mud. and it tastes disgusting.
bleh. i think i´ve told you before that i really dont like it.
but my companion really really doesnt like it, haha it was super
funny we passed like an hour and a half trying to get it down.
> Ha!!!! That's HILARIOUS! Was it at a member's house?
yeah it was a members house. but in one of the poorer areas of the
island. its actually like a delicacy. but seriously i havent heard
of a single american that likes it ha...
(he asked about Landon)
>> Yeah, I think Landon is doing well. He takes everything in stride, you
>> know? But I can tell that he's wanting to get things going with his
>> investigators. He has the same struggles you do with them not coming to
>> church, etc. He sure LOVES mexico though!!!!! You and he will have to
>> vacation there together sometime. Start at Cabo and end in Cancun, eh?
i would love to do that with landon. that would be sooooooo fun. i
want to hear him speak spanish! i bet he´s doing so well
> Any good run-ins with spiders or rats?
> Or any dogs peed on you lately? We seriously tell that story to someone
> every day. It's the BEST story -- and it brought you A!!! The
> Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes ya gotta have a dog pee on ya to
> help you meet up with someone who's ready, right?
ha! yeah we have a cockroach infestation in our bathroom! thats been
interesting. because right when we sit down they start coming out the
walls. lots. like 10-15 at a time!
Subject: Conferencia General
hey family!
its good to be writing you again. its suprising how fast the weeks
are flying by. it actually is pretty scary. i cant believe a year ago
right now i was gearing up to enter the mtc. crazy crazy crazy.
but i´m super excited to get this next year started out well. this
week we should finally have a baptism so i´m super excited about that.
this last week has been so good. we put 6 baptismal dates this week
which is really good. we´ve got people getting ready for this week
and the coming week. the whole week was super exciting because
we spent the whole week trying to get people ready to come to general
conference! we worked really hard and we had lots of people who were
going to come to conference. and we taught them well and had a really
great week. friday night when we entered the house we had people who
were commited to come to every session which was so exciting. we
were sure that if we could just get these people to come to
conference they would be able to feel the spirit of the lord and
recieve a testimony.
saturday morning 6 investigators came E and her children, D and her child
and a boy named J who´s twenty one.
we were so excited. la hermana E was taking notes the whole
time and she learned a lot. D i dont think paid very good
attencion. which was a bummer but j liked it a lot.
no one ended up coming in the afternoon, but the husband of E came to priesthood and felt the spirit there. when we saw him
afterward he was visibly different and told us he would be coming with
his family sunday!!!! woot. also priesthood session we had an
inactive guy i´ve been working with since i got here. he hadnt come
to a meeting in years. but he came and i think he liked it a lot.
sunday morning we had j and e, and their kids, and a new
investigator named a and her daughter, and a man named
p and a girl named r. they all heard the prophet speak!
sunday morning was super powerful i loved all the talks! a came
up to me after and said -- i had some doubts about baptism --- but now
i dont. -- her and her son will be baptised this week. i´m so
excited for them. this conference was like the best think thats
happened it months =)
and i was able to learn a lot from the conference as well. we watched
it in english with all the other gringos. i watched 1 session in
spanish and its just not the same. i can understand everything but
its just not the same as being able to hear their actual voices.
they speak with such love. i loved all the talks about the book of
mormon. especially the one sunday morning, i cant remember who gave it
but it was super powerful. when he talked about "this book was either
written by the devil or by god and i´m going to find out which"
i also loved the talk by elder holland in the priesthood session.
lots of talks about missionary work, and the book of mormon. the
talks of boyd k packer and david a bednar to the youth were so good
as well.
anyway. i´m super pumped to be here. i´m happy and healthy. hearing
the voice of the prophet has helped my companion and i to have more
desires to re-dedicate ourselves to the work. i´m excited this week
to be able to testify to the people we contact of a living prophet.
that he indeed recieves revelation from god daily for us. he guides
christ church on earth. god has not stopped speaking with the children
of men. he loves us and is the same yesterday today and forever. i
know the scripture in D-C 1 is true, whether by mine own voice or by
the voice of my servants it is the same.
i´m grateful for the chance i have to serve the lord as a missionary
and to bring the joy of the gospel message into the homes of the
people of mexico
elder lloyd
emailing from yesterday, and then his main email. Have a great week!
- marci
some funny stuff thats happend this week-
yesterday my compañion and i ate something thats called -- mole,
pronounced mO - lee, its basically like dark brown mushed up
peppers, but it just looks like mud. and it tastes disgusting.
bleh. i think i´ve told you before that i really dont like it.
but my companion really really doesnt like it, haha it was super
funny we passed like an hour and a half trying to get it down.
> Ha!!!! That's HILARIOUS! Was it at a member's house?
yeah it was a members house. but in one of the poorer areas of the
island. its actually like a delicacy. but seriously i havent heard
of a single american that likes it ha...
(he asked about Landon)
>> Yeah, I think Landon is doing well. He takes everything in stride, you
>> know? But I can tell that he's wanting to get things going with his
>> investigators. He has the same struggles you do with them not coming to
>> church, etc. He sure LOVES mexico though!!!!! You and he will have to
>> vacation there together sometime. Start at Cabo and end in Cancun, eh?
i would love to do that with landon. that would be sooooooo fun. i
want to hear him speak spanish! i bet he´s doing so well
> Any good run-ins with spiders or rats?
> Or any dogs peed on you lately? We seriously tell that story to someone
> every day. It's the BEST story -- and it brought you A!!! The
> Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes ya gotta have a dog pee on ya to
> help you meet up with someone who's ready, right?
ha! yeah we have a cockroach infestation in our bathroom! thats been
interesting. because right when we sit down they start coming out the
walls. lots. like 10-15 at a time!
Subject: Conferencia General
hey family!
its good to be writing you again. its suprising how fast the weeks
are flying by. it actually is pretty scary. i cant believe a year ago
right now i was gearing up to enter the mtc. crazy crazy crazy.
but i´m super excited to get this next year started out well. this
week we should finally have a baptism so i´m super excited about that.
this last week has been so good. we put 6 baptismal dates this week
which is really good. we´ve got people getting ready for this week
and the coming week. the whole week was super exciting because
we spent the whole week trying to get people ready to come to general
conference! we worked really hard and we had lots of people who were
going to come to conference. and we taught them well and had a really
great week. friday night when we entered the house we had people who
were commited to come to every session which was so exciting. we
were sure that if we could just get these people to come to
conference they would be able to feel the spirit of the lord and
recieve a testimony.
saturday morning 6 investigators came E and her children, D and her child
and a boy named J who´s twenty one.
we were so excited. la hermana E was taking notes the whole
time and she learned a lot. D i dont think paid very good
attencion. which was a bummer but j liked it a lot.
no one ended up coming in the afternoon, but the husband of E came to priesthood and felt the spirit there. when we saw him
afterward he was visibly different and told us he would be coming with
his family sunday!!!! woot. also priesthood session we had an
inactive guy i´ve been working with since i got here. he hadnt come
to a meeting in years. but he came and i think he liked it a lot.
sunday morning we had j and e, and their kids, and a new
investigator named a and her daughter, and a man named
p and a girl named r. they all heard the prophet speak!
sunday morning was super powerful i loved all the talks! a came
up to me after and said -- i had some doubts about baptism --- but now
i dont. -- her and her son will be baptised this week. i´m so
excited for them. this conference was like the best think thats
happened it months =)
and i was able to learn a lot from the conference as well. we watched
it in english with all the other gringos. i watched 1 session in
spanish and its just not the same. i can understand everything but
its just not the same as being able to hear their actual voices.
they speak with such love. i loved all the talks about the book of
mormon. especially the one sunday morning, i cant remember who gave it
but it was super powerful. when he talked about "this book was either
written by the devil or by god and i´m going to find out which"
i also loved the talk by elder holland in the priesthood session.
lots of talks about missionary work, and the book of mormon. the
talks of boyd k packer and david a bednar to the youth were so good
as well.
anyway. i´m super pumped to be here. i´m happy and healthy. hearing
the voice of the prophet has helped my companion and i to have more
desires to re-dedicate ourselves to the work. i´m excited this week
to be able to testify to the people we contact of a living prophet.
that he indeed recieves revelation from god daily for us. he guides
christ church on earth. god has not stopped speaking with the children
of men. he loves us and is the same yesterday today and forever. i
know the scripture in D-C 1 is true, whether by mine own voice or by
the voice of my servants it is the same.
i´m grateful for the chance i have to serve the lord as a missionary
and to bring the joy of the gospel message into the homes of the
people of mexico
elder lloyd
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