What’s up family?

   Well first off it sounds like you all have been really busy. Jc I hope that you’re feeling a little better with the doctor’s visit and the spinal tap... doesn’t sound to fun but I know how strong you are. That’s good that they were able to get an idea on what might be wrong, keep me posted. I hope that medicine they gave you will help. Dad that’s good that your class in Boise went good. It sounds like you had a pretty crazy time when you got back! Maybe they should have checked who the gang’s rivals were before inviting everyone ha. I’m glad to hear that no one got hurt other than the two gang members.  

   Sorry I’m writing this so late, we were doing a little service project for a member here. She is a cook and has a little store and asked us if we could paint the list of food she sells out the outside of here wall so we did. It didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would never the less it looks ok... I’ll take a pic if I remember the next time we visit her. As for my talk that I gave this week it went pretty well. Like I said I have never been a fan of talking in front of a lot of people so I’m glad it’s over.
   Tomorrow were going to Oaxaca for a special meeting for all the Zones in the city, the word on the street is that some more elders have been pretty disobedient so the president wants to talk to us. (Don’t worry I’m being a good boy and following the rules). Wed were also going back to Oaxaca because it’s our turn to go to the temple again! Its defiantly one of the benefits of being close to the city. 

   This week has actually been a pretty hard one, were discovering that all of our invest. that have baptism dates are having some pretty serious problems. Two of them need to find a new house before they can get baptized, another needs a new job, and a couple are really struggling with some commandments. I and my comp have been pretty stressed but who said the mission was easy? all we can do is keep praying and looking for solutions. If you remember pray for the people of Oaxaca and everywhere else, they need the help. 

   Sorry this is short but it’s late and we need to go. I just want you all to know how much I love you. OH I got the package! Short story I’m loving the ties! so thanks for that. You guys really are the best and I love you all so much. Have a good week! 

Love your boy

Elder HOPE! 

Yo,
Well hey again this is going to be a short letter because well I already told you a little about my week. It was really good getting to talk to all you and hear your voices, I hope I was able to answer all your questions that you had. Dont worry about sending money like I said the sisters house that we called from has a plan where she can call anywhere in the United States and Mexico for a certain amount every month so its all good.
I got the pics that you sent of Jc and one of her dance pics,  JC it looks like you had fun and  Here is the name of the song you guys can youtube and check out. Its called Ti Feo by Camili Nanga. Part is is spanish and the other in Zapateco... Enjoy!
Like I said this is gonna be short, right now were with some other Elders that slept in our house last night and they are going to be staying at our house again because in their area there was nowhere for them to call  home so they used the phone in the church.
I love you all so much and I hope all is going well for you guys, I miss you all, I hope that your all being safe! Untill next week,
con Amor Elder Hope!

May 8, 2012

Hola,

What's up family, man this week has gone by pretty fast.  It sounds like you have all been busy with the yard work again but that's good.  Before I forget 5:30 should work out pretty good, I'll have to check with the family I'm going to be calling at but there pretty good so I don't think that they will mind.  If not I can always try calling you guys from another house so no worries.  I'm pretty excited to be able to talk to you guys again hopefully I can answer all of your questions.  Dad, Mom it sounds like you had fun at the concert so that's good.  Also crazy that people from Oaxaca are up there studying but that's also really cool.  Jc I hope all is going well with your fake little baby ha-ha I had a couple of friends take that class and from what I heard it was kind of a pain but you have had a lot of practice when it comes to that stuff so I'm sure you'll do fine!

Well I have a new comp, his name is Elder Torres and he's from Mexico City.  He's pretty new in the Mission and only has three months.  I'm his second comp in the mission which makes me a step-dad.  He's pretty cool and has a lot of desire to work hard which is really good and I'm pretty excited for this change.  The other day we got a call for the Zone Leaders at 11pm telling us that we had to go to the city of Oaxaca the next day so Elder Torres could have his final capacitation with the president.  During the meeting president wanted to do a demonstration of how to introduce a scripture to a invest.  Well long story short he ended up choosing me and my comp (I've never really liked talking in front of a bunch of other people so I was a little nervous).  Luckily there were only about 22 other elders, the pres., and his assistants there so it wasn't too bad...it actually went really well and he gave us a couple tips of how we could improve so we all learned a lot.

This week we had 9 invest come to church with us so I was pretty excited.  It was also a little crazy trying to help them all out in our classes and what not but since we go to church with two other elders they were able to give us a hand.  We have found quite a few good invest and a lot of them really like the gospel however half of them have a fear of entering in the waters of baptism so please pray for them that they will find the strength they need to enter the water.  I'm really enjoying my time here in Etla the members are relly cool and they help us out quite a bit.  It took a little work to get their confidence in us because the elders that were here before weren't the best...if you remind me when we talk I'll tell you a little bit of the story. Sorry this is short but I want to have some cool stories to tell you about when we talk this Sunday so I better jet.  I love you guys so much and I'm excited to get to talk to you all soon!

Take care and until then,

Love E HOPE!

May 1, 2012

Buenos familia,

Buenos Dias, what's up?  I'm going to try to keep this short because I'm writing this at a member's house on their computer, before I forget I better answer dad's question.  We had changes last night but I'll be staying here in Etla and will be receiving a new comp, with that said I asked the family that I'm at right now if I could use their phone to call this mother's day and they said yes so just figure out the time you want to call and let me know.  I don't have their number but you still need the area code for Mexico.  The number is 951-521-2663.

This week has been pretty good and crazy with a lot going on with the changes and what not.  We also had a surprise baptism this week of a little kid named Joshua.  He's 8 years old and his mom is a recent convert (her name is Gullimina not sure if you remember me writing about her or not) anyways the baptism didn't count for the mission or anything but right after church he was baptized.  It was still pretty cool to see because we have worked a lot with his mom to get her confirmed a member so he was there in all the lessons and what not.

It sounds like you all had a busy but good week with all the yard work and homecomings.  That's kind of cool that they built a track out by the house ha-ha I'm going to have to try that out when I get home!  Sorry this is so short but were also washing our clothes (there are a couple members here that have a washer and dryer...how cool is that!!) so p-days are a lot nicer here in Etla.  I'm doing good and having fun I have grown to like Etla a lot more and I'm excited to be able to serve the people here in Etla a little bit longer.

I love you all so much and hope you have a good week!  Take care and be safe.

Con Amor, Elder Hope!

Hey family what’s up
  Well ill start off with the bad news first... our baptism fell through this week. I’m not sure if I mentioned this last week but our invest Andres has had some problems in the past and ended up spending a little time in jail. The other day he had an interview with our D.L. and afterwards our D.L. told us he would need a special interview with the President. So I have been talking with the Pres to schedule an appointment and it turns out that we have one today at 7pm so ya hopefully that all made sense. But dad it’s funny that you shared that quote because I just read it this morning and when I read it I thought about Andres, It’s never too late to repent and the gospel really can make bad men good and good men better.
   It sounds like you all have been pretty busy with yard work and all that ha. Don’t worry Josh will be there to help out pretty soon! It’s crazy that all his friends are all getting home, sounds like you have a busy Sunday coming up. Tell them I all say hi. I’m glad to hear Dillon is doing well and that you guys were able to talk with him a bit. Also Tell Matt that I say hi and wish him luck for me, he’ll do great.
   This week has been a pretty busy one; we had 6 of our investigators come to church Sunday which was pretty awesome. We have been receiving a lot of help from the member this week and they have been coming with us to our lessons which are super awesome because an extra testimony always helps. A couple of our invest also speak different languages, Mezteco and Mixe so I made a deal with them that I would teach them English if they teach me theirs. So I’m trying to learn Mezteco and Mixe. Also the church here has been advertising an on-line English class from BYU-I and there are a couple members here who were accepted. One of the members needed help figuring out how to work the web page and how to add the class and everything so we went over to her house and we signed her up for the class and everything. It seems kind of crazy that BYU-I has reached all the way here in Oaxaca, just goes to show its growing.
   Oh and it sounds like I’m going to be rich with me Tax return..... Ha-ha oh well. This week on Wednesday I get to go to the temple again so I’m pretty excited for that. Also this is the last week of the change so we will have changes this Sunday but I’m pretty sure I’ll be staying here in Etla which is ok. But I guess we will find out. I better go but take care and be safe. I love you all so much.
Until next week,
E. Hopè!

Family,
Hey everyone what’s cracking? It sounds like you have all had a pretty busy week with the yard work and ISAT test. Those were never really fun ha. You heard right there have been a couple more earthquakes here, one happened at about in the morning but luckily I was so tired I just slept through it ha-ha the other we were in a taxi or something so I didn’t feel it. There sure seems to be a lot down here and everyone said it’s because the world is about to end....
Thanks for taking care of the pics, I was starting to wonder if you had ever got them because I didn’t hear anything but I hope you liked the pics.
This week was a pretty good week, we had a couple people come to church with us so that was really awesome. We also have a baptism lined up for this Sunday, his name is Andres’ and he’s about years old. He was a reference from a member and he’s a good guy. He’s made mistakes in his past but he knows that baptism is important and he is ready. So this Sunday we should have a baptism!
We also finally confirmed people that were baptized a week before I got to the area. Their names are Gullamina and Javier (mother and son). After their baptism they didn’t go to church and so we have been spending a lot of time teaching them the importance of church and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We finally got them to go to conference but we couldn’t confirm them until the next Sunday she was out of town, but this week we got her to come and they were finally confirmed so that makes me happy.
We also had a couple less active members come back to church, a dad and his son. They have been less active for... well a long time so it was really cool to see them back in the church. The dad doesn’t have arms... were not too sure what happened all we know (from what he told us) is that some people chopped them off with a machete. So ya... nevertheless he came back and said he’s going to come next week also so that’s cool.
Oh before I forget tell Grampy Jim I say Happy B-day.... it’s a little early but I know it’s coming up. That’s about all we did this week or at least what I can remember right now. We don’t have too much time so I better jet, but thanks everyone for the love and support and the prayers! I know that they help. I love you all so much and I hope you all have a good week. I pray for your safety nightly so I hope all is well back at home.
Take care and until next week, Con Amor,
ELDER HOPE!

Hey family!
Yo yo whats up? This week has been a bitter-sweet one. Its vacation time down here for everyone so it was a little difficult to find or investigators because they were all on vacations. We also had two of our baptism dates fall which was kind of depressing because I was pretty excited for them. Their names are Shayla and Karina both are sisters, shayla is 14 and Karina is 11. Their mom is a member and so is their older sister. They are both really nice people and I’m hoping that we will be able to talk to them some more and prepare them for baptism.
The week ended off pretty well though, we spent a lot of time contacting throughout the week to find new investigators and also because all the ones we have are out of town. I think my comp was a little mad at me one of the days because he doesn’t really like contacting.. But to be honest its not one of my favorite things to do either but we weren’t receiving any references from the members and we had nothing to do, so it’s better than sitting at home doing nothing. It reminded me of a talk that Elder Uchtdorf gave. I can’t remember what it’s called but he talked about how if you look hard enough you can find fault with anything. He also talked about how if you look hard enough you can find the "good" or positive in any situation. It all depends on what you’re looking for. The week ended off good and my testimony about fasting and prayer grew. I have been praying to find those ready for the gospel and the other day we received a reference from a member. We went and checked it out and the guy is gold! He came to church with us and accepted a date for the 22 of this month. His name is André’s and he’s about 65 years old. He liked the church a lot and knows he needs to be baptized. I know God hears and answers our prayers.
Today was also a pretty sweet day.... WE GOT TO GO TO MONTE ALBAN AGAIN! It was pretty cool to get to go back again. This time it was a lot greener so I think it looked "pretty". I took some pics so I’ll try to send some. I hope I answered all you questions... if not well there’s always next week! I hope you all have a great day and that you’re all safe! Don’t worry about the yard work; Josh will be home pretty soon to take care of it!. I love you all so much, I miss you all a lot and think about you all the time. But I know this is where I need to be and I’m grateful for the opportunity I have in sharing the gospel. It’s true and sharing it with others is awesome, I don’t have a doubt that because of sacred ordinances of temples we can be sealed and united as families forever. That is amazing! and I’m honored to be able to share that message with others. The church is true. I better go but once again I love you all so much. Take care and until next time
Con Amor, E Hope!