Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas Season to all! This week has gone by pretty fast, and has been a lot calmer than normal. 

Tuesday, we went to Chihuahua for a Christmas dinner, and we watched each of the different zone videos about their light the world activities. Anyways, the food was super super good, Turkey, Ham, Tamales, etc…  I will attach a picture, don’t worry haha. Afterwards, we brought home with us a new companion, Elder Lima from Brazil. He had 2 weeks in the CCM, and he has been with us in a trio. It's been interesting, because now in our house, we have a native Spanish speaker, native Portuguese speaker, and a native English speaker. And my companion can understand some Portuguese and so when Elder Lima starts Speaking Portuguese, I just start speaking English. 

Wednesday, we had another Light the World activity, where we handed out a bunch of free hot chocolate to people passing by, as well as in their cars. 

Thursday, we had an amazing lesson with this person we had tried to find at least 5 times in her home. Her name is Angelica, and her grandpa recently died, and she was absolutely devastated. Like Salome, we taught her where her loved one is, and that it is possible to live with them after this life, and forever. That cheered her up quite a bit haha and then she fed us. And we have an appointment with her tonight, where we are going to learn to make tortillas with her. 

Sunday, we had a nice 1 hour church and that day I ate pretty good. The member that day for lunch served us a bunch of chicken. Then later that night, we went to go visit a less active family, who also fed us some more chicken, so chicken for 2 meals that day. The less active member family, also invited us to their Christmas eve celebration. So, they are going to make tamales, and then we are going to help them eat them haha so we are looking forward to that. My companion told me this week "No Mastica" which means "you don't chew" and I told him that I do chew, just not as much as you haha. So then he just watched me eat one time and analyzed how I eat, chew, and swallow so fast. 

Merry Christmas Everyone and enjoy the time you have with all you family!

Elder Talbot

The Great Christmas Honk

This week was full of really great as well interesting experiences. Monday, I had a really neat opportunity to talk to this Barber guy who was cutting my companions hair. He had lived in Arizona for 27 years, illegally and so his English was perfect. I was able to share our beliefs and clear up all the misinformation about our church that he had, all in english so that was very very nice haha. As well as testify of the power of the Book of Mormon, and I gave him a copy and he was excited to read it. On Wednesday December 11 at 6 pm, about 800 trucks passed by the main street, all of them honking their horns non stop, and they all had a picture of Mary on the front of their trucks. And so tons of people gather on the sides of the street to watch. This is a Catholic tradition to celebrate the virgin Mary. But, the tradition with the trucks passing by is apparently only celebrated in Parral. We had a few Christmas/Light the World Activities this week. All the missionaries in Parral gathered in central, and for the first activity, we set up a table filled with Light the World calendars, Book of Mormons, and treats to entice all the kids to get their family to come over haha and it worked. We invited the people to accept the calendar, and to do the small act of service that was listed for the day. We also went out and contacted the people in the Plaza area to bring them over and it was a success! The next activity was 2 days later, and it was similar as the last one. But this time we had more tables, and more candy haha. And we also invited the people to write letters to the kids in the hospital, that we would then go and deliver the cards to these kids. On Sunday, we had an amazing experience with this family that we found. So a few days earlier, we were contacting and we contacted this house and a guy came out and we talked to him and asked him how he felt his relationship with God was. And his response was "Pues bien, gracias a Dios" which means "Well good, thanks to God." However, this is also the exact same response you will get to just about any question regarding how they are doing haha so I don't think he fully understood the question. And so on Sunday, we came back and contacted his house, and he wasn't there, but there were people that were shouting at us asking who we were. Eventually, they came out and they asked us if we wanted to come inside and have homemade tortillas with them. And so we accepted the invitation and went inside and got to know them. Living in this house, is a mom-Rose, of 2 boys, 2 girls and a grandma-Selena. And the mom told us that she Selena needed council, and so we talk to her and find out that her brother was the guy that was just recently killed just the other week. And so we had an amazing lesson with her and taught her the Plan of salvation. And when we explained to her where her brother is right now and that she will be able to live with him again, she was in tears. And so the lesson that I was able to learn here was that, part of Gods plan for some people, might be experiencing something devastating, such as the loss of your brother in a murder, that will then prepare that person to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This experience in particular really opened my eyes to see how God works in different ways to accomplish his work for his children here on the Earth. Church on Sunday was very very different. For one, we had a homeless guy walked in ,before sacrament meeting was about to start, and started asking the congregation for money. That Sunday was also the presentation of the primary, and so we had over 40 people at church! But, there wasn't enough kids to sing all by themselves, so everyone just sang for every song haha. Then afterwards, they served al the kids cake, coke, and sandwiches, and they enjoyed that. Later that night was when we had our experience with Rosa and Selena. But after them, we went to go visit Sotero and Vicky However, before we got there, this other homeless guy stopped us and he said a bunch of crazy stuff, like he had a pistol in his bag and that he had killed a lot of people. He also asks for our number and for pamphlets, and so I hand him a pamphlet. However, I accidentally handed him one in English, and so I try and take the other one back in exchange for a Spanish one, but he wouldn't give it back haha. Then, he says that he's going to leave and he goes to shake our hand and grabs my hand forcefully and does the Catholic cross thing using my hand on himself, finishing by kissing my hand and doing the same to my companion. So that was wierd haha. So yea that was my week, I hope yall had a good week! Take care everyone!

Elder Talbot

Meeting Azucena

Another week in my training is done. I have 3 more until I finish my training and change my companion. Monday, December 2, we had a zone activity and we played soccer and basketball. Then afterwards, my companion and I went to this buffet and you can probably imagine how that went for me. I made sure that we went just before they were about to change into lunch hours, so we could eat and try the most amount of food. And so they had all sorts of food,but the empanadas were definitely my favorite. The next day we had our district meeting, and afterwards we learned the Aunt of ruby and Jose wouldn't sign the form form for them to be baptized, so that was really disappointing. And we also learned that their parents were in prison for stealing, so they are having a really hard time. Anyways, that day as we were riding the bus, the bus driver hit the curb and then we heard something crash, and turns out the door completely fell off so that was interesting, never happens in the United States that's for sure. We also heard that day that there were 2 deaths in the colony next to where we live, so yea. The next day, we have an amazing lesson with Jorge, and his inactive family. He was struggling to know about to know which of the churches really is true. And so, we watched a conference talk together in their house, by Tad R Calister about the Book of Mormon, called Man made or God given. This has to be one of my favorite talks, because it makes it so simple and clear. If you read the Book Of Mormon, and think, ponder, and sincerely pray about it, you will find out for yourself that the book is indeed a true book. And when you do this and get your answer that the book is true, this book then confirms so many things about the church. For example, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, who restored the true church of Jesus Christ on the Earth. That our church is the only church that has the priesthood, or power of God as given by Peter James and John and John the Baptist. And that our modern day prophet, Russel M Nelson, leads and guides our church and the world to prepare it for the second coming of Jesus Christ. All of this is can be confirmed to you, all you need to do is read The Book Of Mormon and take Moroni's Promise to pray about it. If you think really want to know where the truth is in the world, you will take this leap of faith and read the book, that's all you have to do, and there's absolutely nothing to lose by doing so. And so this talk that we watched, strengthened his testimony so much and it can do the same to you. I'd like to invite everyone to watch and listen to this talk, and really think about what it means, and how it can affect your life. This week we did a bunch of contacting and we came across some very bold people. We asked this lady if we could share a message about the teachings of Jesus Christ, and I couldn't believe how she responded. She said, "Oh I already know it all". On Friday, I had the best experience on my mission so far. So we were returning with our contacts that day, and all of them were busy "Segun". So then, we start contacting, and the very first house we contact, we were let in the door by this 19 year old girl named Azucena. We get to know her and we find out her family is catholic, but she just wasn't interested whatsoever. She was born in Utah, but moved to Mexico before she was even one. But every year she goes on vacation to Utah, but all that time, she never talked to anyone about the church. So, then we teach her about the Restoration and I share the First Vision of Joseph Smith her, but I was interrupted by a very loud Food truck haha. But this girl, has to be the most receptive person I have met and maybe that I will ever meet on my mission. She intently listened to every word we said and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she was so excited to start reading it. I knew afterwards that this was a very special experience and so we made sure to cherish it. And she is going on vacation on December 15th until January 20th to Utah, so we will see what happens. Afterwards, we taught the Plan of Salvation to some other investigators. Then we returned with Jorge and his family and we watched the first Book of Mormon video together with them to show them that they can use both the videos and books to learn. And their kids and the whole family loved it. Some other things to note for this week, we talked to this really drunk guy who couldnt find my hand to shake, this other guy that was inhaling this yellow stuff in a bottle, and this lady that grabbed my forearm for 3 seconds and then walked away. There are a lot things around here that change, but the one thing that does not change is the amount of weird people I see and meet every week. Stay normal everyone  

Birthday Cake

Monday November 25 - We had a zone activity and we played a bunch of soccer and basketball. Then we went inside the church to do something...the zone leaders pulled me aside and told me they needed to interview. And after a minute into the interview, one of the sisters interrupts the interview and says that our President is here to talk to me, but she said it so fast in Spanish I didn't really understand. And so they were like what did you do! So then she leads me into the room where...the zone says Happy Birthday! There is a cake on the table and they then tell me that I have to eat the cake, and they all knew that I don't like to eat junk food, anyways so I agreed, to eat a small piece. But then they tell that I have to stick my face in the cake to eat it. So I was like alright, I bit a little piece. And then the next thing I know, I feel a hand on the back of my head and then my face in the cake. So yeah that's apparently the tradition for Birthdays here. But I was the first birthday, so I didn't know it was coming haha.

Tuesday November 26th We had our district meeting, and then contacted and visited people the rest of the day. One experience in particular was pretty interesting as we tried to visit the guy named Eldier. We knocked on his door and someone came out another door, that wasn't him. He asks us what we want and then he says "Tengo una pistola, ustedes tienen una pistola!?" Which means, "I have a pistol!, do you guys have a pistol!?" As he holds one arm behind his back. But my companion didn't believe him and he said yea I do too. Then we explain that were just missionaries and he calms down haha but yea he didn't actually have a gun behind his back. Anyways, we then went to talk to the aunt of Jose and Ruby to verify that they could be baptized because their parents were out of town. And, she says yes. And then we go visit and teach Sotero and Vicky, and this visit I showed him some US Dollars and he started asking me about the Presidents. And he then tells me that he knew George Washington, so yea this dude is just crazy, but so funny haha.

Wednesday November 27 was my 3 month mark on the mission. We went to teach Ruby and Jose, and review previous lessons as well. That night we were invited by one of the members to one of the school assignments. And we go to this museum place and my companion shares his culture with the other people. I guess it was a cultural night, and people from Columbia and Spain were there too. But the people from Spain, talked so fast, I honestly couldn't understand what they were saying which felt bad haha.

Thursday, November 28 - My companion hit his 1 year mark so he lit his shirt on fire, so that was cool. This day, I witnessed my first car crash about 10 yards in front of me! While we were waiting for our bus, a car turned in front of this motorcycle and he tried slowing down, but he couldn't and so he crashed and flipped of his bike and landed on the ground. Luckily, everyone was ok, but that was crazy to witness it so close to me. Later that day, we went to visit Alma, who we have knocked on her door like 6 times and finally we were let in. We got to know Alma and her sister and then we taught the Restoration and gave them Book of Mormons and it was a really good lesson. They both thought that we were really old. They thought I was 25, so when I told them I was 19, they were very very surprised haha. After the lesson, we left to go visit other people. But as we were walking away, one of their daughters came after us and told us to come back. So then we come back, and they feed us bread and milk, so that's always a good sign that people like you haha.

Friday, November 29 - We went to the church to obtain the white clothes and to prepare for the baptism service. Then we return and our District interviews Jose and it turns out they had been drinking coffee, which they hadn't told us so they didn't pass the interview. However, they promised us that they will stop drinking and so now we are planning to have their baptism in 2 weeks.

Saturday November 30 - We had an activity to prepare for Light the World. We made these bags that we are going to pass out to people and then we are also going to wrap up Book of Mormons and then hand them out. On the way back from the Activity this crazy Sotero sees us while riding his motorcycle, gets off and buys us some drinks. And then rambles to the cashier about San Antonio Texas and a bunch of random stuff and then we leave haha. The rest of the day we try and find people and everyone is busy, except this less active member family who is not sure if they are in the right church. So our next appointment with them, we are going to teach them and help bring them back into the church.

Sunday December 1 - I listened to a bunch of General Conference talks and we had hour fast Sunday. Pretty much every Sunday, our branch starts late, as we are waiting for all 15 to show up. Then after church, we had our correlation meeting with the Branch Mission Leader, and he explained how we need to change the way we are working, better way of contacting, teaching more with the Spirit, etc and it was all good advice. However, to actually implement it is the hard part and is something we have been struggling with. But overall, I had another great week, full of learning and practicing and I know that it just takes time to figure everything out. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, because I didn't have one at all haha

Elder Talbot