Letter #82 4/30/12 Hey Hey Hey!!

Matt en El Arca!  Beautiful and remote!!

Matt and Elder Hansen in El Arca.  No electricity there!

hey hey hey! family!

its been a good week here in Sabancuy.  actually pretty average ha.
but some pretty random stuff happened.  in the middle of the week they cut
our electricity.  apparently the elders here havent paid in 7
months -- awesome.    so they cut off our electricity,  we talked to a
neighbor and they hooked us back on again. so we´re fine now,  but for like
3 days we had to plan and study in the night by candle light. ha.
 elder hansen said our house was looking more like a catholic cathedral than
an apartment of mormon missionaries cuz we had a lot of candles going. --
then in the night it was super hot and there were a
ton of mosquitos because we couldnt plug in the fans---        but
we´re all good now. the electricity is back!        it is getting
pretty hot here though!   may will be the hottest.  my companion got a
pretty sick sun burn.   and we´re both looking pretty tan now.  im
definitely happy that we´re by the ocean though so that i can feel that
breeze in the afternoon!

also this week we had a conference with the pres. de la mision!  it was good
to see him again. always a spiritual experience when he comes.

little bit of a bummer this week though with the investigators-- fg left town to work on an oil platform for the next few weeks. which
makes it super difficult to visit our friends in el arca!
 we went once during the week and we couldnt find hardly anyone because they
were working. if we want to go we would have to go late in the afternoon,
and thats hard because its hard to find a ride back
to sabancuy that late.     el arca is half an hour walk from a pueblo
called ignacio -- ignacio is like 15 min drive from where we can get
the bus and the last bus pases at 5 in the night.   when freddys here
he just drives us where we need to go. but its a bit rough to do it all with
out him.
so we couldnt work there this week.  it made me sad because we couldnt
teach all those people we found last week.   and we had to let go a lot
of our investigators in sabancuy this week as well because they werent
progressing.        thats one of the hardest parts of missionary work-
when you find a family sooo good, and you start teaching them and they
accept what you´ve taught and accept to be baptized-- and then for one
reason or another they recieve the test of faith and they dont
progress--  this week we had to leave behind A and his wife, because
even though he wants to stop smoking -- he doesnt have the
will power to do what it takes to receive help from the lord.  
   it made me sad to lose him and his
family.     and another 3 or 4 families we´ve been teaching.     its
just another proof though of the inspired vision of lehi.   those who
give heed to the call of those in the great and spacious building, or those
who dont hold on tight enough to the iron rode,  lose the path and dont
arrive to the tree.

also i´m getting a new comp tomorrow.   elder hansen is going to
Minatitlan,    and i´m going to be with an elder Garcia.      i dont
know much about him.  i think he might have already served here in sabancuy.
but we´ll see!  i´ll tell ya more about him next week!
anyway--

hope you have a great week!
stay safe, play hard in those lax games jack and slate

-elder lloyd

Letter #81 4/23/12 El Arca!

hey fam!

its been an awesome week here in sabancuy.   We´ve been working hard
and this week we were very blessed by the lord.    last sunday we met
a man from our branch named F G, who brought some investigators to
church and had planned a family night with us last
monday.   but we had to leave sabancuy and go to an even smaller town
called El Arca,      its about thirty minutes outside of sabancuy and
its sooooo small.   electricity hasnt even arrived there yet!   the
houses are made from palm leaves.  i have truly felt among the
lamanites this week as i´ve been working there.   there arent really
streets there,  its like a jungle.   the people are super ready to
recieve the gospel.  humble and ready to listen.  this week we found
13 new investigatos there, and 8 had planned to come to church.   but
sunday morning one of the family´s pig died-- and they had to deal
with that and they couldnt come.    but it was basically the coolest
week working there.   we went 3 or 4 times during the week and it was
super funny because we did divisions and i went to el arca and my comp
stayed in sabancuy-- and my companion was like "not fair, i get stinky
fish area and you get to go to the other side of heaven" ha.

F G is the other reason we had so much success.  he is like a
SUPER member missionary.      this guy shares the gospel with everyone he
meets.  whatever conversation he has he relates it back to the gospel.
  so when we arrived to the town he presented us to like 15 families.
He comes with us to almost every lesson and gives powerful testimony.
 i know that in this next month we´re going to see a lot of success
here in sabancuy.   one of the best families we´re teaching right now
is C and his wife R.   they have a daughter who´s blind.  we
taught them the plan of salvation and invited them to pray to know if what
we taught was true and if they needed to be baptized.  they accepted and
when we came back they both said they felt something
incredible,  like a certanty that what we had said is true.   They
accepted to be baptized and theyre progressing really well.   every time
we enter there house and teach the spirit is so strong.   we´re super
excited for them.

other than that the weeks been pretty normal.  the branch is progressing.
we´ve raised the attendance to 44  from 32 so thats
pretty good.    mostly one thing i´ve learned in the mission is that
one of hte best ways to raise the attendance is just to get the bishop
excited and he does all the work =)

my companion and i are excited.  transfers are soon.  i´m almost
certain my companions going to go.  its his time.   he´s almost at the
year mark and he´s still comp. menor so its his turn to get an assignment!
i´ll be super super suprised if he stays because he´s a great elder and its
time they put him in charge of something!

I got your easter package and we´ve been enjoying it these past two weeks.
sorry i always forget to tell you important stuff like that
haha.   but seriously thank you because i love everything you all
sent! yum summer sausage!

well i gtg so i can chat w- ya´ll and right the presi.
-love ya´ll a bunch

elder lloyd

Letter #80 4/16/12 From Sabancuy to Cedar Hills!

hey fam,

awesome pics from your trip!  looks like you had so much fun!  did you
get video of the alligators?  wow jack and slate look so cool.

this week has been pretty good.   we found a lot of new people to
teach.  it was awesome because i felt like the lord was helping us to
find the people we needed to find.  i feel like the people we´re
finding are those that really want to accept the gospel and change
their lives.   the majority of the people we´ve taught this week have
accepted to be baptized in the first lesson-- and i mean a lot of those
fall through because theyre not married or they have problems with one
of the comandments, but we´ve got a lot of people that are definitely
progressing!!

 the couples we´re teaching are really progressing.  idk if i´ve told
you about the people we´re teaching right now-- i dont think so.
right now we´ve got a couple named p and y --  and another
-- A and his wife.    all four came to church this week along
with two other new investigators.    p and y were
progressing really well until we read the proclamation to the world
with them this week and found out they´re not married. bah.    but
they came to church and they´re pretty faithful in completeing the
commitments we leave with them.  we have to focus this week in getting
them excited to get married haha.        A and his wife are
awesome-- and they´re married woot.   A i think has had a pretty
rough past,  but he´s definitely super escogido
because he is making some big changes.    he loved the church meeting
sunday and his wife as well, we havent talked as much with her but i
hope by the end of this week to have a baptismal date with both.

i seriously love sabancuy.  its a simple place but i love the members.
 i feel like i know them better, we see almost everyone everyday. ha.
 and i´m starting to get to know A LOT of people from the town from the
contacting we´re doing.    we stand out quite a bit-- because we´re
both gringos. ha.

mmmm what else happened this week------      we got locked out of the
house because the door was broken and we had to break a window to get
in, that was cool.

idk. its been kindof a normal average week other than that.  just
working.
i feel like every week i learn a little bit more about missionary work,
 i think one of the things thats helping elder hansen and i to have
success here is sincerity,  i feel like here in sabancuy i´ve felt
a lot more love for the people and i teach them with the purpose that
they can understand and apply the doctrine.  not just because i want
them to be able to be baptized.  some times we focus so much in
baptism because we know its essencial for their salvation that we
forget the process of conversion.    this week as we´ve made
commitments i´ve felt the spirit so much.   when we commit someone
we first invite, then we promise blessings and testify.  and sincere
comitemnts have so much power.   everytime i promise someone that the
spirit of the lord will answere their prayers and they will know that
the things we´ve shared are true i feel the spirit testify again that
the message is true.  and i feel such a strong desire that others can
know it as well!

well i´m gunna go so we can chat in a min. love ya.
bye!

elder lloyd

Letter #79 4/09/12 Mondungo!!

bautismo!!

hey fam!

good to be writing you again,    i enjoyed hearing from my two bros
this week!   and i loved your letters.   man my brothers are studs.
holy cow.   so much better than i was!  i´m pumped to hang with them
in 6 months. we´re going to have some sick lacrosse fun.   and they
can teach me all i need to know about music and movies and vocab and
everything.  ha.   it´ll be great--

but thats in 6 months!   i´m so grateful for the mission that the lord
has allowed me to serve.  i´m so grateful that he sent me here to
villahermosa in this time, i am awed by the infinite love and wisdom
of our god.  there is no doubt in my mind that he knows his children
and their needs and he is continually preparing his children to be
able to return to him.  i feel as if all my mission he has been
guideing me and giving me the experiences that i´ve needed to
progress.  and now i´m here in sabancuy and i know this is where the
lord needs me.  there are so many people here that are ready for the
gospel. saturday we invited three different people to be baptized and
all three accepted -- now we just need to get them to church!! haha.

This is going to be a powerful month.  our mission has some big goals
to accomplish things that have never been accomplished since the
mission was formed.  and i know my companion and i have much work to
do.     this week i´ve felt the lord seriously direct us to find his
elect.   this week we´ve found a lot of super good investigators,  i
felt prompted to contact some of them and others the lord prompted
them to speak with us.   this sunday we had a lot of people who said
they would come, and there were trials and some couldnt make it, but
we ended up with two in sacrament meeting.  and they´re super excited
for their baptism!


also this week

 i loved the ensign from this month--  there was an incredible talk by
elder bednar on the atonement.  he talked about how sometimes we focus
so much in the power of the atonement to clean our sins that we forget
that the atonement can give power to become better and power to
complete what the lord expects of us.

-- also, have you guys seen the bible videos in lds.org??  AH they´re
soooooo good.


also this week,

my companion is a bit of a greeny-- haha.   man i love him but geez he
made a mistake this week.    ha his dad has been telling him this past
month that he needs to eat something thats called Mondungo,  -- its
the inside of a cow stomach--  his dad kept telling him "its so good"
and i told him no elder, its not.  i promise-- haha.  because i´ve had
it.  but no he wouldnt listen. ha so when we were in the house of a
member he asked the hermana to cook him mondungo.  aye.   mondungo
basically tastes like a rubberband-- only covered in hairs.  wakala.
ha.   i´ve got some funny pics i´ll send you of us eating it!


well fam.  love ya a bunch.  hope your vacations goin´ well.
i´m excited to see pics
tell kam i´m thinkin about him.  i´m so excited for him to get his
call.

-elder lloyd

Letter #78 4/02/12 Tarantula!!

A reunion with  beloved converts!!

Jackson says that Matt is looking thick and bulky in this picture, and that
he needs to get on a weight loss program of some kind -- that maybe a tape
worm would be helpful. (haha, right jack)

Matt is in the poorest area, and pretty much surviving on eggs and beans
once a day from the members.  At least he's so so happy there!!!!
(Hopefully my Easter package full of food/candy will arrive soon!)  Have a
great week, all!    - marci


Subject: Sabancuy!

Dear Family,

its been another great week here in Sabancuy.  a bit crazy, i feel
like we´ve been running around a lot, but its been a good learning
week, a week full of the spirit!

Hna. G was interviewed thursday and baptized this friday!,
this means that thursday we did divisions, and i spent the whole day
in puerto real, Cd. del carmen!!  -- my old area!!!!  ah it was so
awesome, i ate lunch with the members, visited the people that the
elders are teaching right now, and some less actives that i know.  ah
it was great.  i felt right at home ha.

then friday, hna gwas baptized.  the baptismal service was
really special, we had two of her friends in the ward give talks,  she
already knows the relief society president well, and the counciler in
the ward that confirmed her a member is the dad of one of her friends
so it was really special.  she´s going to have plenty of fellowshiping
in the church.    hna g is super excited to be a member,
she´s reading the book of mormon and she came to conference, even
though its an hour and a half bus ride from her house--   and she
learned a ton in conference.  we visited her yesterday in the night
and she told us her 4 favorite talks and what she learned from them. i
was impressed.   i know she´s going to be an active member.

also this weekend it was super sweet -- i got to see all my converts,
or almost all of them from puerto real!   i have a pic with j
e and their family that i´m sending you,   but i also saw o,
and p.(converts)   and they´re still active and doing great,
actually o told me that his mom converted to the church, she lives
in monterrey --  he went all the way there to baptize her in february!!
awesome eh?   and the mom of o already has 2 callings, secretary
of the relief society, and ward missionary-- awesome awesome awesome.
  i feel great because when you leave an area, you hope so much that
the people you helped get baptized stay active, and it was a feeling
of great happiness this week to see many of them there in the
conference!

i loved general conference, we saw all the sessions,  IN ENGLISH.
woot.    4 other gringos from our zone and i watched in one of the
branch presidnets office.  it was great,  every talk was so powerful
and uplifting,  a lot of talks about teaching children,  and i applied
a lot of that to investigators.  i loved when one of the speakers spoke
about the importance of not only teaching the doctrine, but helping
others to understand and apply doctrine.      i loved every talk about
parents teaching children and i felt grateful through every one of
them. i´m so grateful for parents who helped me -- one of the
seventies said -- wise parents help children prepare to be ok without
them-- i´m grateful for parents who helped me to gain my own desire to
live the doctrine in my life.  who taught me by example what things
matter most.  who never forced me to make correct choices, but always
were there when i needed advice and council.

i also loved the talks of elder uchtdorf and elder holland, its so
important that we are careful not to judge, and that we who so much
need the mercy of christ look for ways to show mercy unto others.

i´m so excited to read and study the talks in the coming months.

on a less spiritual note

i had a run in with a tarantula last night.  it was in my apartment on
the wall by my bed!  we had a pretty dramatic moment trying to kill
it.  my companion with the broom and me trying to smash it with a
shoe.  .. i hate spiders.. haha.    i had a hard time sleeping
worrying about waking up with one in my bed.
thats the first run in i´ve had with one in the house

also this week i ate cow brain - yum...
and also this week we watched a little bit of mexican rodeo.  pretty
intense stuff!

i hope youre all doing well.  --getting close to 6 months, geez it
goes fast.  i have 4 transfers left--  they´re going to
ffffffllllllllyyyyy by.  but i´m going to use them with all my heart
to do the lords work.  this branch needs our help!

love ya´ll a bunch.
elder lloyd