Soldier in God's Army

Soldier in God's Army
Soldier in God's Army

Monday, August 20, 2012

Transfers!

13 de Agosto, 2012

So a lot has happened this week. We finished of this transfer with a baptism, and with it we ended our companionship. This week's story will start off chronologically:

Oscar (a member and husband of investigator Thalia) is a pretty good mechanic. He knows just about everything there is to know about cars. He took a classic Mustang, took out the engine, and cut a big ol' hole in the hood. Then he took a V10 engine out of a pick-up truck and somehow rigged it up to his car. On top of that, he attached a supercharger to the engine. It's crazy! The hole engine pops out about 1.5-2 feet about the hood of the car. After a few more modifications, he named it "The Sustang" for super-mustang. It's crazy fast, crazy powerful, and crazy loud. We were walking to his house one day for an appointment, and he found us on the street, picked us up, and gave us a ride to his house to teach Thalia. It felt like a rollercoaster ride. One of these days I'll take a picture with it. Maybe this week.

I finally have orthotics! I can walk without pain. It just takes a little getting used to, as the part of my foot in the arc has never touched the ground before as they are doing now. They should last about 3 months, considering how much we walk. As for my shoes, I had to throw them away (obviously). I bought some Flexis and now I'm walking without problems.

Next: A man contacted us recently on the street, and told us he has a big problem with alcohol and wants to change. We have taught him 2 lessons of the Plan of Salvation, and he is really interested. His name is Antonio, and we're hoping to set a baptismal date with him in the next lesson.

Francisco got baptized! And Juan is still really firm in the faith. He bore his testimony at the baptism of Francisco, and said he knows the church is true. It feels good knowing that we're now reaping the fruits of our labors.

Lately, we have been working with a less active family, Familia Limones. They haven't gone to church in about 6 months, so we have been visiting them and challenged them to share the gospel with somebody. We had 2 extremely powerful experiences with them, and Rosio (the 25 year old daughter of Hermana Limones) cried both times. They are both extremely sensitive to the spirit and we love them so much. Then, this Sunday, they both went to church! It was awesome. We're going to continue helping them and supporting them.

Well, Elder Lopez and I have transfers. I have been assigned to stay here in Guadalupe (Durango, Durango, Mexico) while Elder Lopez has been assigned to go back to Torreón. We're gonna have a Trio here in Guadalupe. Elder Condel has already arrived and we're gonna pick up our other companion in half an hour. It's gonna be interesting. I don't know how we're all gonna fit in our tiny apartment home. I guess we'll see. I'm guessing President Flores wanted both of these Elders here as companions, but since they don't know the area he wants me here to help them got to know it. That's just my stipulation, nothing more. But if that's so, it's probable that I'm gonna leave this area next transfer (6 weeks).

So that's the news for this week. We'll see what success brings us this coming week, eh? Until then, tata for now!

Elder Tyler Riggs

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Lots Of Walking

6 de Agosto, 2012

So if you didn't believe me the first time I told you we walk a lot in this mission, check out the attached pictures. I've completely busted my pair of shoes. I started using them went I entered the MTC, but those first 2 months don't really count as we sit in desks all day. So pretty much in 2 and a half months I completely tore up my shoes. They aren't even attached to the soles. Pretty awesome, huh? The rubber on the bottom also has huge holes, and you can see completely through in 4 different places if you remove the in-sole. 

My feet are doing better. They still hurt when we walk, but I fight through the pain. Last Tuesday we ordered custom orthodics, and tomorrow (Tuesday) they will be ready so we're gonna go pick them up. After that, hopefully my problems will be solved.

We have another baptism coming up this Saturday! Francisco has been to church 2 times, has all the lessons, and is really firm in the gospel. He said lots of his friends were persecuting him and telling him this church isn't true and a bunch of stuff, so he went to his house and prayed, and felt really strongly that it was true, and he had a great conversion experience. 

Maria de Jesus went to church as well, but she was scheduled to operate today, and will have to recover in her bed without moving for about 3 months, maybe more. She will have to wait to get baptized then. She really wanted to last Saturday, but the rule is 2 weeks of going to church before baptism. The Assistants to the president said it would be better to wait than to make an exception to the rule.

We picked up an old investigator this week, named Thalia. Her husband, Oscar, is an active member. They have 2 really young kids, and they all come to church almost every Sunday. The problem with Thalia before is that she refused to pray, whether it be as a family, with the missionaries, or even personally. We think she might have been afraid or something, who knows. Last week we went to their house and taught a lesson on Obedience and Loving God (and how we show it through prayer). Finishing the lesson, we started to ask Thalia to pray when Oscar interrupted us and said to his 2 year old son Oscarin "come here Oscarin, your momma's gonna say the prayer". When Oscarin came, we all folded our arms (including little Oscarin), closed our eyes, and waited. 5-10 seconds of silence later, Thalia started to pray, and when she finished, Elder Lopez and I felt like we had hurdled a 100 foot high wall. Finally, Thalia is progressing! She went to church yesterday, we have an appointment this week, and we're gonna set a baptismal date with her in that appointment.

Saturday, with family Ayala (a recently converted family), we learned how to make gorditas! I'm definitely gonna make some when I get back to the USA. Not only did we make them, we ate some as well... and they're Magically Delicious!

This is the start of the last week of this transfer. We still don't know if our companionship is gonna change or if one or the both of us is gonna remain here in Guadalupe. We're gonna find out Sunday. If we have changes, Monday morning is the departure time.

I hear USA is winning in the Olympics! Everyone here tells me "your country is winning....where is Mexico in the competition?". 

Also, I'm thinking of buying a Man-Bib. Every other day or so I spill some kind of sauce or something on why white shirt. I guess I still haven't learned to eat messy food. It'll be a little ridiculous, pero creo que valerà la pena.

Well that's about it for this week. If you want more, ask questions. Until next week!

Elder Tyler Riggs