Letter #60 11/28/11 Transfers- What???

Matt and Elder Piquet and Elder Luna

hey fam!

so i´ve got some news!   looks like i´m leaving zapata!   they just
called me.  i´m leaving tomorrow to villahermosa for a conference with
all the other zone leaders,  and they told me and elder luna that we
need to bring our bags because we´re getting transfers.    they didnt
tell me where or what i´m going to be doing, i might be zone leader
still or maybe i´ll be training again, idk.   they havent told me
anything.

i´m a bit bummed because we´re looking at an awesome month.  we have a
good 10 people that are going to baptized here this month of december.
  that would have been more than in any other month of my mission.
but i know that the lord calls you to serve where he needs you.  and
obviously i learned what i needed to here.   honestly when he called
i just got this heavy feeling in my heart, but right now i´m feeling
a lot better.  i learned a TON here in two weeks.  this has easily been
the best companionship i´ve had.  elder piquet and elder luna, both super
experienced super hard workers.  but honestly right now i just have even
more desires to do even better than these past two weeks.  i want to arrive
to the next area and be even more obedient, and consecrated.

yesterday the mission president and the temple president came to our
branch.  it was a really spiritual meeting.   i could feel the spirit
so strong in my heart. during sacrament meeting the president spoke
about being able to hear the voice of the spirit and letting it guide
us in our lives.     which is intresting because i´ve been thinking
about that all this week.  The mission president knows exactly what to
do and what to say and who to help and how to help them in every
minute.  he doesnt rest he doesnt stop. he´s always doing something.
every moment.   and i know its because the voice of the spirit is
guiding him and inspiring him to know what to do.  i have felt that
way as well in moments of the mission but not in every moment,  and i
think thats what i´ll be focusing more of in this next transfer.
learning to rely on the lord to know what to do.

in the afternoon yesterday the mission president spoke about his
childhood and i realized how he became the man he is.     his mother
and him read the book of mormon together.  she asigned 10 chapters a
week to each of her children and then in family night would ask them
questions ranking in difficulty 1-10  and with the years he grew to
love the book of mormon with all his heart.     so much that at the
age of 10 he could activate his father,  his father wasnt paying
tithing and because of that they werent sealed in the temple.  but he
said that every week he and his brothers met together and made plans
of how they were going to help their father.  and eventually after
like a year of working with his brothers, they had a famly night that
was so powerful that their dad committed to do whatever it takes so
they could be together forever and their family was sealed in the
temple soon after!!!

anyway.   to answer your questions

-yes i´m eating.  i dont feel like i´ve lost weight.  i´m eating more
here than ever before.  i eat oatmeal every morning!! and we always
eat a big lunch.       idk. i´m going to start excercising better
though so maybe i´ll muscle up a bit and look a bit bigger =) haha.

-thanks so much for the christmas stuff!!   the decorations are great.
  and the tape is super super funny.    i do have to say to jack and
slater though that my video gaming desires have almost completely
left.  its weird.  i dont even have any desires to pwn some newbs or
zergling rush some protoss bases.....     --

-tell my grandmas that they are in my prayers and i love them so much.
   how did grandma b fall??    i hope she´s doing alright!   i love so
much getting her emails!
- also -- i received grma B-s package and ronettes,   i´m going to
have to open them up though to fit them in my luggage -- i´ll do my
best not to look though!! ha

any way, gtg.  have a great week!

-elder lloyd

Letter #59 11/21/11 Zapata!!

so i didnt have a chance to read your emails,  i printed them
off and i´ll read them later in the day.  but the way my new
companions like to do things is a bit different.  they like to do all
the writing in the morning.   in carmen i always printed off the
emails in the morning read them in the day and in the afternoon i
wrote you all.  but here it´ll be a bit different.   there are two
options,  i can read your emails first and then send you a weekly
letter thats shorter. or i can send a letter without reading your
letters and it´ll be a bit more detailed. -- my guess is you´d like
one a bit more detailed. but you guys can decide.

ah! man being a zone leader is a lot different than i thought it would
be.  ha.  but i can honestly say these are easily the best two
companions i´ve had in my mission.  we have no problems whatsoever,
we get along so well. we do our contacts, teach good lessons, we
have the spirit.  and its just been super super great this past week.
everything has just gone really really well.     its something that
i´ve never really experienced in the mission.  elder luna and piquet
are sooo good.  obedient, spiritual,  and they really know how to do
missionary work.  we´ve been working with members a lot this past week ---
something that I struggled with in past areas,   and we´ve found some new
families that are progressing really well.   elder luna has 23 months in the
mission and is about to end,  and elder piquet has one more transfer than
me in the mission. but elder piquet is one of those elders that works
miracles,  he´s divided 2 branches and the president always sends him
to the hardest areas.  elder luna was my zone leader in carmen when i
first arrived there.    i´m super pumped to learn from them.  i feel
like i´m progressing a lot better here and learning a ton.

the zone is HUGE,    it takes up a huge area of Tabasco,    on a map,
i´m in a city thats called Emiliano Zapata,  there are 5 elders here,
in 1 branch.      the president loves this branch though and wants it
to grow fast.     but the zone goes to cities like palenque,
tenosique, balacan, Trienfo, Candelaria.    there are more than 20
elders in the zone.   and its very spread out.   the farthest
companionship is like 5 hours away, close to the boarder of guatamala
i think.  i´m not sure, i havent seen a good map of the area.

mostly i´m just super super pumped to be a misionary right now.  i´m
just trying really hard right now to be more and more obedient, and
stay humble so i can learn a lot from my companions and so that the
lord can help me.    i feel really overwelmed,  but i know the lord
will help me to be able to guide and inspire my zone.  the zones in
pretty bad shape right now.   they arent baptizing,  but we´re working
with the elders and we´re excited to see baptisms in december!

also
- this week i saw elder tlachi!!!  i about died.  i gave him a big
hug.  he´s such a great elder.  he´s serving right now as zone leader
in villa.
- this week i ate that summer sausage you sent me -- that was super
good - thanks
-we had a baptism this week-, a guy named f!  he´s so great.
he bore his testimony in the baptism,  his families been giving him a
hard time but he´s working really hard and i know he´ll stay active!

anyway.  i want to chat, so
ttyl
love ya´ll
-elder lloyd

CHAT:

no one celebrates thanksgiving here, actually i thought it was last
week --  ha

i´m doing good health wise  i think i´ll probably lose weight here,
we do a lot more walking up and down hills, and a lot of running too.
its weird to not see the ocean,  but theres a huge river by the city.

piquet is from idaho,  luna from monterey


> I'll bet it will be fun living with a group!  What's the area like?  Is it
> hotter?  More jungle-ish?  How many active branch members?

ya its been good this past week. the elders are way fun.  i´m working on
the whole social interaction with other elders thing ha.   because i know
as a zone leader i have to be super super excited super friendly.

its hotter here,  its a jungle,  lots of hills,  reminds me so much of what
I imagine when i think of the lamanites.   this is definitely the land
bountiful!

there are 100 active members of the branch mas o menos (more or less)


>> What's your apartment like?  Do you have a car?

the apartment is big, 1 super big room, and two others, and a kitchen.
 but there are 5 elders living here.

haha,  no we dont have a car, that would be sick though and really
helpful, sadly there are only two cars in the mission,  one for the
president and one for the elderes in the offices!

bah, my times up.  bah.   love you all.  talk to you next week.

just know, i´m healthy and happy.

you all be safe, happy and healthy as well!!
love you, bye

Letter #58 11/14/11 Transfer! Zone Leader!!

Hola familia, como están!!!
Well i havent had a chance to read your emails today, but i´m printing them off so i can read them in the afternoon or tonight!!
Its been a super crazy day.  We´ve been getting everything ready for me to go! sadly, it is finally my time to leave ciudad del carmen!
its been really an incredible time here.   i love the people that i´ve
been able to meet and teach.  i´ve taught soooo many people in the last 6 months here and its been wonderful to have had this chance to
share my testimony with the people of carmen.   i love the members and
i love the people that i was able to teach and baptize.     this week
we had a baptism -- PA.   he´s 28 years old and married,
he says they already have plans to come be sealed in the salt lake utah temple, so i´m pretty pumped that i´ll be able to go with them a
year from now!    P has a huge testimony and i know he´s going to
be a huge help to the church here.
this next week -- after i leave =(  two more people are going to be baptized, R, and his cousin,  his cousin we found thursday.. but get this, she has the coolest name i´ve ever heard in my life --  her
name is Light of Getsemani,   can you believe that.   i was in
divisions when my companion found her, but aparently the minute they met her they asked her her name and then when she said G they immidiately taught her the atonement and she accepted to be baptized
right there-- cool eh.   pretty pumped for them!

but about the transfers--
i´m going to a new area --  its called Zapata!   and i´m going to be
in a trio,  with elder luna and elder picket.    and -- i´m going to
be a zone leader!! when they called me this morning to tell me i was shocked.  but i´m super pumped to go down there and get working.  i´ll be working with elder luna and picket which are two excellent missionaries and i´m so excited to be able to learn from them and
progress as a missionary.    not to mention that zapata is the zone
that is baptising the most people right now!!   super excited to get
to work.     every transfer is like another chance to start over and
to commit to be even better.  and thats what i want to do,  i´m excited to move to a new area and start fresh.  work with all my heart and really love the people there.  i think thats the key to missionary work. loving the people and being humble enough to do the lords will and not your own.

elder jepson will be staying here with his new companion elder Robison.  i was in the mtc with elder robison, and he´s a great missionary, he and my companion will be able to do a lot of good work here.  there are sooo many people soooo close to baptism here in carmen!
well i dont have a ton more to tell but next week will be like a novel so i can tell you all about everything!
love,

-- elder lloyd

Letter #57 11/07/11 An Impromptu Concert!!

Family,

its been a busy week here in puerto real.  we´ve been working a lot to
get things prepared for the new elder who´s going to come here.  we´re
not 100% sure about cambios, but i´ve been here for 4 transfers so my
guess is i´ll be going soon.  transfers are next week.  but this week
we´ve got two potencial baptisms,  a man named pablo alejandro,  who i
started teaching in august,  didnt really teach in september at all
and not much in october but we went back with him a week ago and he´s
very excited now to be a member of the church.  its pretty interesting
how the lord prepares his children.  many times if someone isnt quite
ready if you just leave them for a week or two and come back things
have changed and their heart is more open.   its just proof that the
lord does the greatest part of this work, not the missionaries.    the
other baptism we´ll be having for this week is a boy named ricardo
thats related to some of the members of the ward.   he´s super good,
he goes to seminary every day and wants to go to the church high school
they have here in mexico!   we´re pretty pumped for the both of them.

this week we also had interviews with the presidente, that was a great
experience like always.  i love talking with him.  he always helps me
so much to see how i need to change and be better.   he told me i
really need to help my comp to be prepared so by the end of the
transfer it´d be possible for him to be a companion mayor.  idk if
he´ll actually be a senior companion this next transfer but my guess
is soon!!

my companion and i really want to give everything we´ve got with
this last bit of time we´ve got.

cool story-- yesterday when we got back to the house, one of the two
evangelical churches on our block (fuente de auga viva)  was having a
party with music that was sooooooo loud.  we could hear it from blocks
and blocks away. --  and we are like the house right next door
basically.        so the music was super loud in our apartment. the
band that was playing had guitars and drums and piano, -- one of those
christian rock groups.  and while we sat there we had the idea come to
our mind that we should go and sing to them--- so we left the
apartment and asked the guy in charge of the concert if we could sing
-- and he said yes, so me and my companion went on stage and sang "god
loved us so he sent his son"  it was intense because there were a good
50 people there eating and partying and  the atmosphere totally
changed. my companion and i felt the spirit as we testified reverently
of our testimony of the savior through song, we didnt have time to
talk to very many people after we sang but just went back to the
apartment,  it was a pretty cool experience and i´m hoping that some
of the people who heard sometime when missionaries pass by their house
will at least be interested in knowing more about who we are and what
we believe in!

as for goods for the packages --

i´m good on the socks i believe, maybe a new shirt or two would be
good, fitted would be nice,   music-- i would like the hymns in
spanish if they have them --- idk.  or if they dont have them in
spanish you could send them in english but i really just want hymns.
or primary songs,  i´d love primary songs -- and if they have them in
spanish itd be better!

as for food- what ever you send will be great.   i dont know if i can
buy cake mixes here i havent checked.  but that was super super good
the day i had it!


well i gtg.
much love
bye

Letter #56 10/31/11 Happy Halloween!

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

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