Week 17 - Lighting Up the Temple

Hola Everyone:

So, wow, what a week! On Sunday, we were given permission from our Mission President to go to the Mexico City Temple with our Ward Members for the turning on of the Temple Christmas lights. There was like tons of people there from all over.  We were given permission to go although it is outside our Mission because we are so close.  We literally took an Uber 30 minutes to get there!  There were a ton of missionaries from the other mission there but it was just our District from the Pachuca Mission.  It was also really cool because I got to see one of my Sister MTC teachers.  It was kinda cool to see her with Elder Williams, you know, because the last we saw her we couldn’t really speak Spanish and she was like crying because we can now talk to her!  Also, I took a picture with an Elder named Elder Plumber and he was a Senior when I was a Junior at Davis High and we played together on the Football team.

Other than that, this week was pretty freaking crazy, honestly, you know, some weeks are just like that in the mission and not every week is fun but this past week we were able to have some pretty good success! Tuesday, I went on exchanges with my Zone Leader and he was really happy with how I am progressing and how well I know the area.  Exchanges are great because I get to learn new things from other missionaries!

So, last week we were told that they were going to be splitting up our Area because it is so huge.  I guess in the past there were 2 Areas here and I don’t know why they changed because it is such a big Area, we can’t get to all of it.  Anyway, we were asked this week to go out and find another house for the other set of Elders that will be coming here next week and we found this amazing place for them and it is a lot better than the place I am living in now! With changes next week, I know my Companion Elder Castro is probably leaving because he has been here for 3 Changes, but I don’t know about me.  It is a lot of stress thinking that I am going to not only have to train a new Companion, but also another set of Elders on this Area.  There are still a ton of members who are less active that I hardly know and even though they don’t come to Church, they still feed the missionaries and it is hard even for Elder Castro to find where they live when we get invited over there.  AS I mentioned last week, there are no street signs so you really have to now where you are going.  The other thing that is hard is remembering all the members names.  When women get married down here, they don’t drop their last name, they just add their husbands name to theirs so everyone has like 4 names and no one calls anyone by their last name because it is confusing. So, if I wasn’t a missionary, they would call me Hermano Tanner!

The best thing about this week was that we had the baptism for Daphne and Xochit.  It was pretty cool and I was asked to baptize Daphne and Elder Castro baptized Xochit.  Now there have been times on my mission where I have just hated it, always being tired and sick, but being able to baptize Daphne made it all worth it and made all the bad times worth it. It made me realize why I am here.  In the pictures of the baptism, I show the parents and family who are not members, but they were there to support and so now, we are trying to work with them. 

We’re working with a few investigators right now. We have just started teaching them, so we are just starting to get to know them. They live behind our house, so depending on how our Area is split up, we might be turning them over to the other missionaries that will be in that Area. 

I don't know how much teaching we’ll be able to do this week. We got a lot of stuff to do with the new house and etc… Usually last the week before transfers there is a lot preparation going on. Like preparing the Area for new Elders to come in. I’m not sure how other missions work, but the way our President does transfers is he’ll call the Zone Leaders Sunday and tells them who needs to go where and when. Sometimes we only get a two-hour notice to pack all our stuff up and go. I’m wondering if I’ll be changed, but I’m almost positive Elder Castro will be changed because President doesn’t like to keep us missionaries in an area more than four months. But you never know. President is always full of surprises. So, stay tuned! 

So that was my week. I love being a missionary and I’m grateful to be serving the people of Mexico.

Love,

Elder Fawcett

                                                                   Playing with a Member's Little Girl!

Daphne, Xochit and Their Family

Elder Fawcett, Daphne, Xochit and Elder Castro

At the Baptism!

Elders Fawcett and Plumber

Mexico City Temple Lighting

Tons of People

At a Member's House

Their Dog!

Member's Daughter

Another Daughter

New Missionaries Apartment!

Week 16 - We All Have Obstacles in Life!

Hola Everyone:

So, this week went by pretty fast and we really worked hard!  Tuesday, we had interviews with the President and he is really happy with the progress we are making.  Also, we had inspections of our house.  Cleaning up the house really good and having El Gato Jose has really helped because our house is now rat free!  We still have no food in the house but whatever, at least the rats are finally gone.

On Wednesday, I went on splits with Elder Mendez. He has been on his mission for 22 months and is from Guatemala.  He speaks really good English and worked for T-Mobile before his mission.  We went contacting for most of the day and he really helped me out in learning new ways to contact and it was really cool.

On Thursday, we had divisions in my area and Elder Williams and I went out all day together.  It was really cool being the Senior Companion for the day and having to be the one who knew the area and the things to do.  Elder William’s and my Spanish abilities are at about the same level and we didn’t have any Latino’s with us so it really helped both of us learn fast because we had to. We went and taught Alfredo about the Aaronic Priesthood and he was able to get that on Sunday with Manuel.  They both were given the Aaronic Priesthood and were Ordained to the office of a Priest and the was really cool to see.  Also, we went and taught one of the member’s Mom.  She is blind and has diabetes and has a pretty hard life. Honestly, she was really depressed and we talked with her for a while and shared some scriptures about tribulations and disabilities in life.  But while we were talking to her, I thought, I am like 18 years old, listening to a lady who can’t see, has diabetes, speaks Spanish and is really depressed!  But I really connected with her and shared with her an experience from my own life.  I told her that I can’t focus very well although I have tried my hardest, it is really a struggle for me.  For my entire mission, I have studied really hard every day and keep all the rules but it continues to be a struggle for me!  But I know that it is something that I can’t run away from and is a problem that the Lord has given me to overcome in my life. Everyone of us has been given obstacles to overcome in life and I know through the Lord’s help we can and will overcome them!  So, that was really cool to be able to share something about myself with her and we expressed our love for her. As Elder Williams and I left, the Spirit was really super strong and she told us that she felt a ton better, so yea that was really good.

Elder Williams and I were also invited to lunch at a member’s house. We were having a hard time finding the address because Mexico address’ are so hard. There are no street signs or anything. As we were looking for the member’s house, a guy in a white tank top whistled to us. Elder Williams and I just looked at each other cause here we are two Gringo’s walking down the street in the middle of Mexico and were thinking oh no. So, this guy is begging for us to come over to his door.  We were very apprehensive, but we went over and the guy asked us what we believed in. We told him God and Jesus Christ. He then told us ok, come in. So, we went in and talked with him and come to find out he’s been a less active member for 10 years and his wife is not a member. They are extremely interested in coming back to Church and so we wrote down their information and Elder Castro and I have visited with them later in the week. We think we will have success in reactivating him and teaching her so were crossing our fingers. 

On Friday, Elder Castro and I had an appointment with Daphne and Xochit and we talked about their baptism which is this Saturday the 24th and they have asked us to baptize them. I’ll be baptizing Daphne which is kind of scary having to say everything in Spanish because full Spanish names are pretty hard, but I’m really looking forward to it and am honored to be doing it. I feel very blessed that I’ll have four baptisms in my first area at least.  

Noe is still gone. We are kind of moving on from him because we really don’t think he is ever coming back. But if by chance he does, we’re here. We have a few new investigators and we’re having success with them. So, we are excited about that.  

I have one last story. So, we meet with a member who is practically a single mom because we never see the dad, but we think there is a dad in the picture somewhere. Anyway, she started to cry to Elder Castro and I because her son that is maybe one or two years old has been having some health problems. She was really worried about her son, so while he was asleep, we gave him a blessing. It was really cool because it was my first-time anointing someone and I did it in Spanish! It was super cool!

So that was my week. It was a busy one. My Spanish is getting better every day. I love being a missionary and I love serving the people of Mexico!

Love,

Elder Fawcett

Spanish Studying Wall!

Home Inspection!
Rat Free but Still No Food!

Week 15 - Just Stick to the Basics!

Hola Everyone:

Well, this week wasn’t really all that interesting so today’s letter is going to be pretty short!  We did find one new investigator who's name is Adol.  He met with the missionaries 3 years ago and apparently, they taught him but for some reason things didn’t go very well with them.  He is 20 years old and has agreed to start the discussions over with us.  When we went over to teach him, his Mother and Sister were there and everything went pretty good with Adol but his sister was really ticked about something and questioned the fact that there is an afterlife. She went off on us for a while and then left to go out and have a cigarette.  His Mom also sort of went off on us a little because I guess the previous missionaries were not that great or something so I guess we took the punishment for that!  Anyway, we set up another appointment with him but he wants to meet us at the Church because of how things went at his house!

Also, this past week, we had an appointment to teach Daphne and Xochit the second discussion (the Plan of Salvation) which we did in two parts because it is sort of hard to understand.  It is really fun to teach them because we like them and they like us and you don’t have to be as serious with them since they are younger and are not trying to argue scriptures with us like a lot of people.  Anyway, things are going really good with them and we have an appointment for the 3^rd discussion and we have set a Baptismal date with them for the 23^rd of December.

Noe was supposed to have a Baptismal date for 10 November but he has still not come back in town and honestly, I don’t know for sure what is going on with him. I am just hoping he comes back in town soon so we can keep teaching him. So, that is the status of our investigators, we have received a few more reference contacts that we are going to go and visit this week as well.

So, on Thursday, we had Zone Conference with the President and we talked about our Mission’s initiative of “Ironman 212” which is basically trying to get 212 baptisms this month and our Zone is leading in that effort so yea that is pretty good and he was really happy about that and told us that we were all doing a really good job.  The pictures I have for today are from that Zone Conference!  Anyway, our Mission is on track to meet our goal of 212 baptisms.  I have my next interview with the President on Tuesday this week!  Also, at Zone Conference, he told us that we are going to be meeting our New Mission President in December which I thought was pretty weird.  But I guess I will know who my new Mission President is going to be in December and whether or not he is White or Latino!

Sunday, all of Mexico had a special meeting with Elder Rasband and a few others and they mainly talked about reading the Book of Mormon and just sticking to the basics of being a member of the Church.  Just like people in the United States, people here struggle in trying to just do the basic principles of the Gospel.  It was a good meeting but I also learned that they are going to have a special Stake Conference on December 1^st and they are going to be making some changes with the Wards and Zones of our Mission. 

So, when I first got here to Tecamac, my Mom commented on how close to Mexico City I was.  In fact, when we go to get on a bus to go to our Mission Home in Pachuca, we have to go to the bus stop in the East Mexico City Mission, we are literally that close!  We have to be careful where we go because the streets are so close to the other mission.  Anyway, I guess they are going to be combining this Area into the East Mexico City Mission which is pretty cool because that means my Companion and I are the last missionaries from the Pachuca mission to serve here in the Montes Ward.  Anyway, we don’t know when that is going to happen but it could be the first week in December but I think they will wait until the January changes.

Everything else is going pretty good and I am still studying Spanish really hard and it is getting better every day.  I really love being a Missionary and love serving the people of Mexico!

Love

Elder Fawcett

Pictures From Zone Conference

Week 14 - El Gato Jose and Alfredo's Baptism!

Hola Everyone:

This week has been really challenging! We had a lot of miracles, but some not so great things too.  So, Sunday we went to only two hours of church because Elder Castro received special permission to go to his past area for a baptism of a family that he taught. We traveled about seven hours by bus and almost didn’t make it back to Tecamac because we could find a bus. But luckily, we were able to find one and it took a while to get back because of the traffic.

We had Alfredo’s baptism this week. His baptism was originally scheduled for November 10th. But when we were teaching him this week, he told us he was going to be in Pachuca on the 10th and wasn’t sure if he would make it back for his Baptism on time. So, he decided he really wanted to have it this past Friday.  Well, President Kimball was in our District Meeting this past week (because he sometimes does that), so we asked him if it would be ok to move the Baptism up and he said it was ok. So, we did. We got Alfredo baptized and it was great. He is so happy! He was ready to be baptized and he asked Elder Castro to perform the ordinance. We hope to get his Uncle Noe baptized soon too. His Mom cried during the baptism and came up to us after to set up and appointment for us to come teacher her. So that was awesome!

But some interesting things happened that day at the baptism. First, we went to the Church and turned on the boiler and the water for the baptismal font because it takes quite a while to fill. We made sure everything was ready to go and then we went to print the programs that Elder Castro worked on forever. Well, they did not print very good at all and we didn’t have time to fix them! So, the baptism had no programs which we felt really bad about. We headed back to the Church and when we got there all the windows were fogged up. We were grateful to know that at least there would be warm water for the baptism until I walked up to the door and opened it. There was a stream of water that came out! We were beside ourselves at this point and wondered what else could go wrong. But luckily it was not our fault that the church flooded. Someone put duct tape over the overflow drain that’s at waist level and so it couldn’t drain and just kept filling up. We called our District and a member family, (the Jordan’s) to come help us because we only had a couple hours till the baptism. Thankfully, the church floors are all tile and we just had to push the water out. We were all soaked by the time we were done. But needless to say, it was a miracle because the Church was completely dry in less than an hour in a half.

Another thing that happened that was kind of cool, is that when we went to the baptism in Elder Castro’s previous area, there was a new Sister Missionary there that has only been there for two weeks. We asked her where she was from and she said Puno, Peru. Come to find out, she knew my brother Taylor when he was serving in her Ward for a while. It’s such a small world.

Also, this past week as many of you know, it was “Day of the Dead” in Mexico and I didn’t get many pictures because honestly it really wasn’t that grand here in Tecamac like it is in other areas of Mexico like Pueblo where my Companion is from.  While having lunch in our Ward friend’s house this past week (the Jordan’s) I did take a picture of there ofrendas which is more of a traditional thing to remember their ancestors during this time of year and is really not a church thing.  It is just a tradition so it is no big deal that members of the Church do it.  But anyway, that was Day of the Dead here.  I did see kids trick or treating on November 1^st and I was like yea you’re a day late but whatever!

Finally, an update on our rat problem! So, a Ward member offered to let us borrow their cat for a few days to hopefully get the problem cleared up.  President said it was alright for a few days so well hopefully that will finally get rid of them!

I really love being a Missionary and serving the people of Mexico.

Love

Elder Fawcett

                                                                 Even When You Get Splashed, Yea Gota Laugh!!!

                                                                            Our Temporary Rat Control!!!

                                                                            Cleaning Up Before the Baptism!

Taking El Gato Jose Home!

Jordan Family's Ofrendas

Lunch with Jordan Family

Burritos and Soup

Elder Castro, Alfredo and Elder Fawcett

Alfredo's Family

Member's at the Baptism

Baptism

District Meeting