Mexico Letter #10

 

MEXICO CARTA #10

Welp... here we are with email #10... ten weeks, wow it's kinda going fast! It's already been 2 months.... it seems like the outside world is going soooo fast though too haha. anyways... onto the letter….

FAM,

I had a great week,, here are some things that happened...

• my shoes have got mold...what can I do? haha
• my backpack broke
• the shower water was cold again... wow it is starting to get cold here! at night, it freezing!!! I'm gonna buy a blanket today, I've been using my towel! Ha!
• That's all the points I can think of off the top of my head.
• 1 more!!! duh.... I got the package from home... but guess what? I forgot to tell you NOT to use FEDEX mom!!! use just priority US postal service, I think. If you sent the other package already via FEDEX... bummer ha. I don't know how much you had to pay to send it to me but I also had to pay $500 pesos, about $45 US dollars, to receive it... haha It was a bummer, there goes literally 1/3 of my monthly money. I haven't gotten it yet, just paid for it, I get it tonight, so I don't know if it was worth it yet.... haha jk, but I'm excited! thanks!

We also had another baptism, which was great, last Friday! His names is Alex, a 9 year old who's mom got baptized 2 weeks before I came. The work is goooood ;)

Okay,  I had a bunch of cool experiences this week, I had the opportunity to give 3 people blessings, and one specifically, the first, was awesome. I walked into the bishops office and a priest was in there and the bish was about to give him a blessing. He turned to me, told me I was going to do it. I was shocked, and kinda scared. I didn't know the things to say, like before the blessing in Spanish, so he talked me through it then just stopped and I went on with the blessing... I had no idea what the boys' reason why or what was going on in his life before I gave the blessing.  I just kept my mind blank, said whatever came to my mind, struggled to string the words in correct Spanish, closed it, and the kid left.  I was wondering if I had done a good job or not and the bishop turned to me, and said in Spanish, ¨What you said was exactly what he needed to hear. You didn't know why he needed a blessing, but I do. It was perfect.¨ It felt really cool.

We found a family! YEAHOOOO!!! I have been praying sooo hard to find a family!!! We were walking by on the dirt road and I  was looking at this house on the corner, and when we came to the front of it, there was a lady washing her dishes. We yelled, buenos tardes and kept walking. About 20 seconds later, I stopped and realized we needed to go back. I quickly made up an excuse that would help me start a convo... it was lunch time, I was just going to go back and ask her if there was a place that sold tortas that we could buy for lunch... so I went back, the convo about food places near by turned into the gospel and we set an appointment for Sunday, yesterday, and taught her and her 2 daughters.  The father works all day every day, except a hour at 5, so we hoped to catch him, but he wasn't there. We went with 2 young single adult girls in our ward, one who is leaving on her mission in 3 or 4 months. As members. they really helped—I don't think the lesson would have worked if they weren't there. I have realized how important members present during lessons are!

Wow! We have a lot planned to do this week. First off, its daylight savings this Sunday! One more hour of sleep  ¨the celestial kingdom joy¨!! We are building a house! I am stoked! and also we put together a Noche de Barrios, like a big ward FHE at the capilla on Wednesday that is going be a giant reenactment of Lehi's dream. I am veryexcited!  Also I have a few divisions, or exchanges. We have a HUGE day tomorrow with citas, we found 4 new investigators on Saturday alone. Things are just going good, and I am happy ;)

I loved the  mail I got last week! Jared Lisa and Laura Matt, you guys ROCK!! I loved that thanks, all the drawings/notes are posted on the wall in my house. THanks dad for your words of wisdom and mom your warnings of health risks, I understand the danger of Denga, we´ve given many blessings to members this past week that have it, including the Bishop and Sandra Luna ha. Also got a package!!! ;)


Pics: I play soccer with my district and some other Mexian guys that are there every p day at 6 am, it's such a blast. Its like a cement hockey rank, so you can play off the walls and stuff,  its bien potente, I love it. So, that's our playing field! Ha!

I love you fam, more next week! Have a good halloween! andTtodd and Annie—have a happy birthday, I can't believe Todd is gonna be 17...wow.

LATERRR!!
-Elder Connolly

Real Mexican food!

Elder Connolly Mexico letter #9

 My Wonderful Family...

WHAZZZ GOOD!?  Things are good here in Mérida México ha---only difference was my shower water was LOTS colder this week ha, we had a LOT of rain! We had about a 3 week drought of little or no rain, but it unloaded this past week. So that was fun!

I swear I sit down at this computer to write home and my mind goes blank! Haha—let's seeee.....(looking through my agenda....) wellllll, the main focus of this week was to find new investigators, so we had plans to contact and knock doors a lot. But with the rain is was hard—it's pretty much dead when the rain comes. Everyone goes in their house and locks the doors.... and the street are empty. Sooo, we changed plans and visited a lot of less active families that the bishop gave us to visit. Yesterday, in our whole congregation that was only probably about 25-30 pèople.... and the week before wasn't much better. So, we´re going around trying to reactivate some families... we had some powerful lessons, 2 in particular were just awesome, and both families didn't come... ahhh!! –it's frustrating!  It's just really hard to get people to church at 8 am in the morning when the ward boundaries and our area is just huge, and no one has a car to drive themselves except the bish and a few families. I hope it gets better when we have 11:30 church in January, if I'm still here....

Your Q´s

1.  Have you received letters #1 and 2 yet?
I think so?? haha Idont know. I got the one with news clips from Danny and the thon, and the east boys newsletter. If Ididn't get, I'll probably get it tonight.  I wish we could get our mail before I email home... oh well.

2.  Have you received package #1 yet. 
No, hopefully tonight! I am excited!

3.  Tell us about your new companion--siblings?  personality? Work ethic?  It sounded like he is a harder worker than the last. Griffith sounds pretty American!
I sent a picture, he's in it. ummmm I dont know. He is pretty tight, just a little different. He loves music and plays the electric guitar (remember he's a total metal head-- haha, pretty interesting), So we talk music a lot, but he has a little different taste. He is the oldest of 5 kids-- lives like 1 block from the Denver Colorado temple, he went to BYU Idaho for a year. He always talks, which is alright and fun, but sometimes he gets un poco molestando.....(annoying) ha. He is a great teacher when we are teaching, definitely knows how to be bold and stern. But what I don't get is that he has a fear of contacting people on the street.  He just can't do it! ha, I don't know how he's gotten new investigators for the past 22 months.... so I have to do that, or we knock doors. But, in Mexico, It's all about contacting people in the street. He still has some drive and is looking like he will finish his mission out strong these last 2 months. The end of the transfer is Dec 28, but Pres Salines is giving him and the rest of the guys in his generation Christmas, because if he was here for Christmas, it would be 3 Chrsitmas´s in the field because he entered the MTC Dec 16 2009. So yeah, all is good with him.

Well I talk a lot about Sandra Luna, but she's not my ONLY investigator I have spiritual experiences with haha. But the highlight of the week was our baptism yesterday, bien temprano haha, 7am in the morning. Mayra got baptized! This one was my FIRST legit baptism haha, but neither me or Griffith baptized her,-- she chose Elder Higgensen to baptize her—ha!.... its fair I guess, I took someone else's before.. :) but yeah that was really cool.

So-- real spiritual thought, I thought I would share a new testimony I have gained this past week: fasting. Ok so I've always fasted and stuff, but this past week I paid the fast offering for the first time ever I think... or from what I can remember! haha and really tried to get something out of it. and I did feel like the Lord did bless us, we found several very hopeful investigators and just things are going better.

Well I'm sorry, I'm kinda in a hurry today.  We have lots to do still and I am kinda frustated because I spent a while of my computer time writing my email to the pres. and when I went to send it, it deleted..... ahhhh!! So sorry. I'll write more next week.

Peace out Fam! Love you!

Elder Connolly

These are my buddies from my zone, Elder Ortiz, is the one with an orange tie, he is sooo funny and Elder Higgensen, just a stud, is in the blue tie, then me and Elder Chavez.

Elder Connolly Mexico Letter #7

Hola Familia!

Mom, if you haven't sent your package yet, send NUTELLA!! and also will you send my retainers for my teeth? I decided I don't want to wear braces again when I get back from my mission..................

Dad, is East Golf over yet?  How did they do?

BOOB´s is having her BABY!!!! WAHOOOO!!! Has it come yet? Mom's email sent last week said it would come next week... which is this week... so I am curious, send pictures!

And do we have a new President? Is Obama still it? Isn't elections sometime around now? Let me know, I am curious. How Mitt Romney is doing and stuff.

Ok, this week was crazy!

First off, Conference was good-- the parts I understood.... I think I got the voice of the translator of all the speakers pretty well down... I did go to all 5 sessions, including Preisthood-- it was great. During the first session, I kept getting side tracked because the second speaker , her name was Barbara something, was Susan Boyle´s twin or look-a-like!! hahahaha, It was bad. I couldn't focus. It is sooo easy to get distracted when it's a foreign language and it's just not the same to hear it from another voice. It requires 110% of your attention, thus impossible to get all of it when you are learning. I started by taking notes, but was getting to distracted trying to write notes and listen, so I just listened after the 2nd session and I understood a little better.  I can't wait to get the Ensign with the conference talks-- I think we get it eventually.

Second, today is TRANSFER DAY!!! and turns out I was a part of it. Chavez got transferred. Yes, I got a new companion, His name is Elder Griffith. He´s an American but guess what!? He looks exactly like CHUCK!!, our neighbor Chuck McCarty hahahahahaha. He might as well be Mexican, he can't speak English haha-- for real though. He is from Colorado and I am his last companion--thus: I am going to KILL him (that's what you say when your someone's last comp, not literal killing....)  It was random, but I'm not too shocked though, I think Chavez knew he was getting transferred for a week. and in a way I am kinda glad haha. Elder Griffith, so I'm told is ¨bien importante¨, which means ¨a great missionary¨, mas or menos-- and I am already learning a lot. I just got him an hour or 2 ago so I have still got a lot of learning to do and we'll see how I like him next week.

Spiritual Thought:
Wow, I could not understand the discousios de la Conferencia muy bien, pero sentí el spíritu muuuuuy fuerte cuando MO-TAB cantó, holy cow. It was really cool, I don't think I have ever felt it more during the singing. It was soooo frustrating trying to put all my energy into trying to understand, but then when the singing of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and that primary choir sang, it was very preaceful. and it just so happened to be the only part of conference in ENGLISH!!! haha so anyways, that was the coolest part of this week, for sure!!

well with the time I have left, I will talk about my daily schedule, cause you asked for it about 5 weeks ago.. haha. wake up, obviously at 6:30am, and exercise, run, eat, whatev- you want to get ready until 8. Personal study at 8-9, then comp study from 9-11am, then language study from 11-12. That's how it's supposed to be at least. With Chavez, our studies followed that schedule maybe.... 4 times in 6 weeks.
Then, we leave and go teach the rest of the day, only to stop at 2 pm for a meal with the members everyday but P-day.
Sunday, our church starts at 8am, temprano.... I love 11 oclock church, that's when conference started and I loved and missed it! haha
and Monday, claro, is p-day, where we do p-day stuff until 6pm, where we meet at the stake center with our zone for district meeting.

So, our zone is gonna be wayyyy different. Elder Jergensen, our Zone leader left to be AP-- he's a stud, I am going to  miss him. Our zone is getting 5 hijos, or 5 new missionaries, every district leader is new and we have a new district, so there are 4 now because they are opening a new area. Our zone will be very young, most of us will be under a year in the mish, I am excited to see our zone tonight.

Well fam, hope all is well back at home, I love and miss you all! Thanks for your prayers and everything on my behalf!

And the pics, are with my buddies from my zone, elder Ortiz, who I talk about lot, who is going home tomorrow, is the one with an orange tie-- he is sooo funny. and Higgensen, just a stud, is in the blue tie, then me and Chavez. I am sooooo glad Higginson is still here and didn't get transfered.  He was Chavez´s comp before me and he has been in Brisas for almost a year, his first and only area!!! haha then when he got transfered when I came, he moved a couple of streets away in the other ward! Same Chapel! hahaha, very unusual, but now he is DL and training so he´ll be here for awhile. and you know all about Chavez. the tall guy in the back of the one with 6 of us is Jergensen, who was my ZL but now is an AP, just a great missionary. And Elder Parra, is the other short Mexican, who is now the senior ZL. I love these guys, and I am gonna miss Ortiz and Jergensen.

Well Enjoy
Teen Bean Familia,
Elder Connolly