My blackout year

It was so fun to see you all on Christmas.  You all have changed so much.  I expect the Christmas picture of the family in one of my packages.  Today is the last day of the year.  That means I will finish my blackout year.  The blackout year is the year all missionaries have.  It’s the year where they don’t see their families at all.  2012 was my blackout year without seeing the family in person. 

Something that I forgot to tell you on Christmas was that President Wagner gave us $500 pesos to make someone else’s Christmas special.  A boy in the United States donated the money to the mission to do this.  We were told to do something for a family and we weren’t able to tell them or tell any other nonmember or member.  So we picked a really poor family.  It is a grandma with her three grandchildren.  The mother of the children was killed and the father ran off.  The oldest boy is eleven years old and deaf.  Then there are two younger girls that are nine and seven years old.  Sometimes for their main meal as a family, they only eat a couple tortillas.  They had also been wanting a tarp for shade for a long time over their dining area.  They hadn’t been able to afford one.  So Elder Montiel and I bought a quality large tarp, a bunch of vegetables, eggs and chorizo.  On Christmas morning we went to the house and threw it over the wall.  All the food was in a box that said it was from Santa Claus.  We ran off.  So we returned the next day because we had an appointment with them to serve them.  Well, the tarp was all set up super well and we played dumb.  They don’t think it’s us.  They actually think it was from Santa Claus or someone that lives close by.  They were telling us what happened and where they found the stuff.  They were just as happy as can be.  It was so nice to be able to have that opportunity. 

I also gave another talk this week on repentance.  It’s like we are giving talks every two weeks now. 

Nothing crazy happened here in Villa Hidalgo on December 21^st.  Was there anything on the news about suicides or crazy things that day? 

Anyway, I love you all so much.  Have a fantastic week and remember to stay strong, do good and be nice to your siblings.  

Christmas Day SKYPE!!

We got to skype with C for two hours!  It was so much fun seeing him.  He has a smile that he can't wipe off of his face and a new found confidence.  He told us that he is the only missionary in his mission that has to wear a sombrero when out in the sun.  I guess his mission president saw him one day and what the sun was doing to him and told him to go buy a hat.  He hears a lot of people saying "yee haw" to him while walking the streets.  He also says people call him blonde because of his red hair and they've never seen either.  It was really funny.  He told us that his mission has been a life altering experience.  I wondered what he meant by that since his testimony was so strong when he left.  He pointed out the traits he has learned while being out for the year working hard.  He is learning diligence.  He couldn't believe how much everyone had changed in a year.  We laughed and wondered what he was talking about until we pulled out pictures and videos from a year ago.  Then we could see what he was talking about.

It was so fun seeing all the kids huddled around the screen wanting to see him and talk to him.  It made for the perfect Christmas day.

I get to skype

How is it all going?  I can’t believe all the things that are going on with the people my age in the ward.  Now somebody else returned home.  That is about three people in the past few months.  I can’t remember a time that that has happened.  It’s sad to hear but good that there is repentance.  I heard about a elder in my district from the MTC.  He was one of the elders that went home in the MTC.  Well, now he just left the MTC for his new mission call to Arizona.  It’s good that he repented and decided to serve a mission.  Hopefully that’s what my friends can do. 

The only package I have received is from Brother Harris.  I must have a bunch on the way.  Maybe you need my address. Please tell Brother Harris thank you for the package.  I really appreciated it.

It’s good that you are enjoying everything with the Spanish branch.  I have pozole almost every weekend.  It will be fun when I get back to be able to communicate with them.  I am officially fluent in Spanish, just so you all know.  Now I just need to master the language in this next year.

I did hear about the shooting.  The people here said that it’s been on the news.  They have been telling me it’s crazy up there in the United States. 

I love Filipino food so much.  I want egg rolls and those noodles that the Dacayanans used to make.

Anyway, I will talk to you all tomorrow through skype.  I’m excited to see everyone!  I love you!

Know that I love you all

How are ya’ll doin?  Is everything going well?  Things are going pretty well here.  

I do get along with my companion most of the time.  It’s not that often that we have problems.  He is a good trainee.

I still haven’t received my Christmas package or the package from Grandma C.  Hopefully I can get it at the Christmas activity.  The Christmas activity will be held in Tepic on Wednesday.  So hopefully I get the packages in two days or else I will have to wait until the New Year.  (January)

    

How many times have you seen M Hartmann?  Awesome that you saw each other at Pro Bass Shop.

We had two investigators attend church.  Delfina and Luz came to church.  Also this week, Sergio went to the Guadalajara Temple.  He did baptisms for the dead.  I am super happy for him.  I really want him to receive the Melchezedik priesthood before I leave Villa Hidalgo.  I am also going to be here in Villa Hidalgo for at least six more weeks.  I hope I can stay twelve more weeks here in Villa.  This week we also found three investigators.  Thanks to your prayers we were able to find some more people.  One of them is Sergio’s aunt and her name is Susanna.  If you could pray for her that would be great.  Also, we added a girl named Yeseña.  She needs prayers to be able to find a way to get to church on Sundays.  And we need Delfina and Luz to attend church again and keep their interest. 

The carnival ended finally.  I can sleep in peace now. 

Please, please, please don’t worry about me getting kidnapped.  If I do get kidnapped I will be fine. 

As you all know, the end of the world is supposed to end this week.  Just in case, know that I love you all.  Just make sure to repent of your sins or mistakes so that we can live together forever in the Celestial Kingdom.  I don’t want any one of you to not make it.  If you do anything that is not according to the church or the commandments, then please change it.  Read the scriptures more, study them, pray more, spend more time as a family, and please strive to better yourselves.  Do the things that will help you achieve salvation.  Sports, television, food, etc, are not going to give you salvation.  Learn what matters most now so that there are no regrets.  I seriously mean this for all of you.  We need to endure to the end, and continually grow our knowledge of the gospel.  If you think you know everything in the gospel and in the church, then I invite you to repent and use the Savior’s Atonement.  Please do what matters most.  Grow!  Don’t stay on a plane of not growing.  If you aren’t growing, then you aren’t repenting.  Part of repenting is changing.  If there is no change then you are stuck on that plane or possibly going down a hill.  Please open up “Preach My Gospel” to page 63, section Baptism, Our First Covenant.  Please read the third paragraph that starts with, “Covenants place us under a strong obligation to honor our commitments to God.”  Please read it as a family, and individually.  I want a report on this section given to me next Monday.  I want it to be specifically about that third paragraph.  “Preach My Gospel” is doctrine of the church.  If there is something that is preventing you from obeying the commandments or keeping your covenants, then I invite you to repent, make the change in your heart, mind and thoughts and leave behind what needs to be left behind to be able to do the things that matter.  I testify these things as a representative of Jesus Christ, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.I love you and want the best for you all and for our family.  Do good, repent, make the changes, endure to the end and know that I love you.

The Lord protects His missionaries

What have you all been up to?  Was your week good?  Mine was so so.

You had dinner with M Hartmann!  That’s good that you love him.  You also looked at all my pictures?  Did the pictures help you understand a bit more of my life down here?  Glad to hear you all enjoyed your mini surprises, or at least I hope you did.

    

I made my Thanksgiving today for lunch.  It all turned out really great.  I finished cooking it all in less than forty minutes.  It was delicious and my companion agrees.  He says thanks.  It was his first Thanksgiving meal in his life.  He really, really likes the stuffing.  The only thing I messed up a bit on was the gravy.  We don’t have measuring cups and measurements down here are different so I was trying to do my best.  Everything turned out really well.  The gravy was still good but a bit runny.  Anyway, thank you a lot for the Thanksgiving package.

So my new favorite food in the world is similar to a breakfast burrito.  It is chorizo, eggs, potatoes, onions and Serrano peppers put together.  Then when I finish cooking that, I warm up some tortillas and then eat like a king.  I never knew I could find something better than breakfast burritos.  I also made some potatoes, eggs and onions.  While I was eating it with tortillas, I recognized a taste that I have had before.  I couldn’t think of what it was.  Then Bam!  I realized it was like Burek.  It tasted just like it.  I couldn’t believe it.  That was definitely a tender mercy for me.

I also had a drunk guy with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other yell at me in my face.  He was definitely in my bubble.  I completely ignored him.  Nothing happened.  I know that the Lord is watching over me though.  He easily could have gotten violent with me.  The Lord protects His missionaries. 

I don’t know when you are going to send your next package, but when you do, can I get a couple more ties for gray pants?  Some of my ties are stained from sunscreen too.

I really enjoyed the picture you sent me with the family and Elder Hartmann with a picture of me in his hands.  I wish I could have been there.  Next year I will be.

I’m excited to get Christmas cards with the pictures.  Actually a bit nervous too with how different everyone is going to look.  I’m afraid it will be big changes and I’ll only be at my one year mark.

Anyway, do good, be smart, stay strong, don’t change too much (physically, so that I can’t recognize you), and remember that I love all of you.

Sergio and the Aaronic Priesthood

How ya’ll doing?  I’m glad people enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner whether it had been in Hawaii or Jack in the Box.  Thank you for the Thanksgiving package.  I got it Tuesday last week for zone conference.  I’m probably going to make the Thanksgiving lunch next week for preparation day.  And thanks for the random turkey hat…??  Haha

I can’t believe it!  It’s now the month that I actually left on for my mission.  The time needs to stop flying by.

How was Hawaii?  How was the dinner with Elder Hartmann and his family?  I’m really curious as to what you have to say. 

G….here is some advice to prepare for your mission.  Take seminary seriously.  Memorize all the scriptures, and make sure you keep it in your head.  It will be a good help to you on your mission.

If you want to ask me questions about my life as a missionary in Mexico, please ask questions and BE SPECIFIC.  Please…..it makes it a whole lot easier to know what you want to know.  Plus, I can reply more specifically also.

¡Por favor!  Gracias por escribir me.  Ahorita, yo tango que salir después de lavar la ropa.  También, Elder Montiel está bien.  He aprendido muchísimo en estas últimas semanas.  Con el idioma.  En la iglesia enseñé los principios del Evangélico y conferí a Sergio al oficio de presbítero.  Él dice que le he cambiado a su vida.  ¡Les quiero! 

This Sunday Sergio was conferred the Aaronic Priesthood.  On Saturday, Sergio was thanking me a lot.  He said that I changed his life and that he doesn’t know where he would be right now without Elder Hartmann, I, and the gospel.  He got emotional.  It really has changed his life a ton.  We told him on Saturday, that on Sunday he could receive the Aaronic Priesthood.  I told him all the options of people that could confer him it, and he asked me to do it.  So, on Sunday, during Priesthood meeting, I conferred the Aaronic Priesthood.  He began to tear up before I was done with the blessing.  I am just so happy for him.  His mom is on vacation in the US and she told Sergio over the phone, that she wanted me to teach her.  I believe she returns in January.  I’m not perfectly sure. 

Also right now, there is a full on carnival/fair right next to our house.  It has loud music every night that is super loud.  It shakes our house and it is tough to get to sleep for a bit until our worn out selves just takes over and makes us sleep.  The carnival doesn't end until the fifteenth.  The whole carnival is for Maria Guadalupe whom the Catholics worship because she is the mother of Jesus.

I also gave my first two baptismal interviews this week as a district leader.  I enjoy doing interviews.  It’s fun seeing how the people change, and how they are ready for baptism and become members of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints.

Right now we are in need of new investigators.  Could you please pray so that we can find some?

Training is going well.  There are enjoyable moments and experiences.  But there are also things that are tough for me.  Sometimes I feel like I’m a one man companionship.  I told the zone leader about how I feel, and he told me to give my companion more responsibilities.  So I ended up giving more which was good because it is how he is going to learn how to do everything.

We also had a zone conference on Tuesday.  During the conference, President talked a lot about safety and what to do if we are kidnapped.  Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. :)

Con cariño,

Elder Loveland