Letter 52: Takis Yoga

Life as a secretary is a fast paced life.

Elder Webster and I had divisions with the missionaries in Ejido Benito Juarez on Monday. Elder Webster went to Benito Juarez and I stayed in Ciudad Juarez. I got to work with Elder Trejo. Elder Trejo has about 9 months in the field and is from Tequisquiapan, Queretaro...Or Tequis for short. (or, as I like to call it, Takis) He is also a total yogi. During our morning workout he just started doing all this crazy yoga stuff. Apparaently, yoga is a HUGE thing in his lil town, and it's what all the cool kids do. Elder Trejo is working in the Benito Juarez area right now, and since it is so far away from the rest of the mission (it is actually the last pueblito within the mission limits), he was pretty excited to be back in the City. 

We had a pretty cool experience teaching a less active family in the ward. Elder Trejo and I gave them a lesson on fortifying their testimonies through Jesus Christ. At the end of the lesson, we asked them for a reference (of course). And then, something amazing happened. It turns out that the Brother actually had non-member relatives living in....Ejido Benito Juarez! Elder Trejo couldn't believe it! They hadn't recieved a reference in FOREVER, and now, the Lord had put us right where he needed us.

Thursday we took a lilttle trip down to Janos, Chihuahua for some immigration stuff. It looked like another routine trip for Elder Velazquez & Webster. When we got out, the whole town went on strike and blocked off the main highway that leads to Ciudad Juarez. Apparrently they went on strike because of gas prices, and they were blocking off access to Ciudad Juarez. Needless to say, Elder Webster, Thorpe, Alba, and I were stuck in Janos. We (miracolously) got a ride to Casas Grandes, Chihuahua (the closest town to Janos) and then waited until about 4 PM for the roadblock manifestation to finish. We took a late bus back to Juarez, and arrived at around 8:30 back in the City. 

And that brings us to today.

Today we got a call from President telling us that a shipment of Flu vaccines are coming in today. He told us to come to the office and wait for them to arrive, so we have been wating ever since for them to get here.

Hasta luego familia 

Elder Velazquez

 

 

Kitty Kadavers (we found these in a house we were looking to rent)

 

Brownies and Ice Cream part I

 

Southpole XXL (a gift from our convert, Luz Elena)

 Hipsta Vision

 

Elder Trejo and I

 

Motörhead Cheeks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter 51: Trunky...Psych!

Hello Familia!

We kicked off the week with our monthly Zone Reunion. If you guys want to know what goes on in a Zone Reunion, here's the link to the presentation I made:

http://prezi.com/q288pdzmfmk5/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Tuesday was travel day. Elder Webster and I headed down to Janos, Chihuahua to wrap up some immigration paperwork. 

Wednesday was a super busy day! We had to help 4 missionaries with some inter-cycle changes. We dropped off a missionary at the airport, and then picked up some sisters who were also being changed from Casas Grandes, Chihuahua to Ciudad Juarez. Inter-cycle changes are kinds common. They usually occur when there is companionship problems, a missionary is sick, or whatnot. Aside from that, we had to go check out and make a contract for a new house for some sister missionaries. I have been getting real good with making and settling contracts lately. If my whole computer engineering/ IT career doesn't work out, I think I'd make a good real estate attorney.

Wednesday was also my 1 year anniversary

I don't feel like time has made me distant. If anything, it has brought me closer to all of you dearest family, and especially to the Lord, my Saviour. I don't feel sad, I don't feel down. I feel happy and with an unexplicable amount of placidity and stillness. I am right were the Lord needs me to be, and I couldn't be happier. 

I am super happy, and I wish time time went by this fast back in High School! 

I love you all!

Letter 50: The 5th Fernando

Hello familia

Lately, Elder Webster and I have been doing house inspections for some of the missionaries here in Juarez. We have seen some of the craziest houses, but they all have one thing in common...They all kinda smell like stale farts and concrete. We have been checking to make sure they all have blankets and that their houses are ready for the long awaited winter. Things are starting to get cool over here in Juarez, but not as cool as the experiences we've been having with our investigators lately.

For the past few weeks we have been teaching some relatives of a member in our ward, Fernando Garcia. We have been preaching to his Uncle, Juan, and his dad, whose name is also Fernando. Quick tangent: This is the 5th Fernando we have taught here in the ward (Fernando Rodriguez, Edgar Fernando, Fernando Soto, and Alberto Fernando) and so far 3 of them have gotten baptized. Fernando Sr. Garcia is a very humble, quiet, and simple man who has known about the Church since he married his first wife 35 years ago. He has never had a single ounce of interest...until NOW! He's been coming to church every week since General Conference, and has been making significant progress. His brother, Juan, has also been listening to our message, and has accepted a baptismal date for the 22nd.

We had an awesome Mission Leadership Council with President Derbez this week! Part 1 of the Council kicked off on Thursday night. We did some exercises and ran laps around the chapel. Then, President Reyes (President Derbez's 1st Councilor) addressed us, and talked to us about the importance of establishing confidence with our investigators. On Friday, the meeting continued as we talked about the importance of the Book Of Mormon, and how it truly is the best tool we have for conversion. 

Elder Webster and Elder Birchett went to Casas Grandes, Chihuahua to help out with a meeting that they are having with all of the missionaries over there, so Elder Allen and I have been chilling together for the last 2 days here in Pradera.

Time is going and it doesn't come back. Everyday seems to go by faster than the last!

Love you all chavalos

Elder Velazquez

 Elder Webster Birthday Bash (Luz Elena, Hna. Ostos, Hna Jimenez, Webster, Me)

 Back to the Pop Era

Hermano Fernando Garcia Jr. on his sweet Bike

Letter 49

Because Juarez is a Border state, daylight savings time doesn't end until tomorrow. That means that this whole last week, half of the mission was an hour ahead, and the other half actually got to fall back into the new time schedule. This has caused some pretty crazy confusion.

We had 18 new missionaries arrive on Monday. We did all of the usual meetings with the new missionaries on Monday, and ran around getting everything ready for Tuesday. We started the transfers at around 7 am and ended at around 2 pm. As you all know, I am in charge of making sure everyone arrives at the Mission Offices and departs to their new areas. This cycle's changes weren't too bad, and everything went (for the most part) according to plan.

President Derbez reunited all of the missionaries serving in Juarez on Friday for a special reunion. The meeting started at 10 am and ended at 5 pm. In the meeting President Derbez addressed some important points on safety, health, self-reliance, and a special Christmas program we are having in December (more on that later). We also got a speciel visit from the mission doctor, Elder Payan. He is the assigned doctor/specialist for many missions here in the North.

We had a great experience with our recent convert, Luz Elena this last week. During the Ward night on Thursday, We had some of our recent converts come to the church to set up their Familysearch account. As we helped these new members get started on their family history, we explained to them of its importance and the blessings it would bring to them as they discovered their ancestors. We all got hooked on Family History! Working on your geneology is actually pretty addicting! Later that night we got a call from Luz Elena. She was so happy and excited about all she had learned doing her Family History, that she over to her friends house after the activity and talked to her friend about the joy she felt in the Church, then she had her friend (Lupe) call us and set an appointment for us to visit her! Lupe, was so amazed to see Luz Elena so happy that she wanted to have the same happiness she saw in Luz. Lupe told us that she was eager to come to our Church on Sunday and see what it is all about! 

Everyone have a great week

Elder Velazquez

 

 Institute Fame

 

The Stewarts

President Derbez "capacitating" (that's not a real word)

President Derbez "capacitating" (that's not a real word)

All the Zone Leaders in Ciudad Juarez

 The Other Secretaries (Elder Birchett and Allen)

Letter 48: While the Cat's Away, The Mice Will...Keep Working

Hola Familia,

President Derbez had to step out this week for a Mission President Meeting they had in Puebla, he gets back later today, just in time for the cycle transfers on Monday. We have been getting everything ready for the new cycle this past week and its been...crazy. I have to come to notice that I always describe everything as crazy, and I am sorry for my lack of adjectives, but it really is always crazy around the office. A good kind of crazy.

On Monday and Tuesday I had to finalize contracts for the new houses opening up in the mission. Elder Webster went and bought all the new materials for the new houses (electronic stoves, fridges, beds, etc.) 

Wednsday was travel day for Elder Webster and I. Elder Webster had to go to Ascencion, Chihuahua to get the house prepped for the new missionaries. Ascencion is about 2 hours away from the city, and everyone calls it "La Chona". In Spanish the nickname for everyone named "Concepcion" is sometimes Chon, and since Ascencion sorta sounds like Concepcion, everyone just calls it "La Chona". I hope that made sense to all of you. Anyway, as we were getting everything planned to leave, the missionaries in Benito Juarez call us and tell us that they need a baptismal interview for their investigator. Since Elder Webster had to travel to La Chona, and I had to travel to Benito (which is clear on the other side of the desert), we had to banana split. Elder Allen (the financial secretary) accompanied Elder Webster, and Elder Birchett (the Referral Secretary) came along with me to Benito.

Upon arriving to Benito, we headed to the little house of prayer to meet the potential new member.

After the interview, we headed back to Elder Chigüila and Elder Santoscoy's house to bunk. When we arrived, we opened the door and a couple mice scurried through the kitchen and the aroma of sweaty missionary filled the room. There was no extra blankets or anything really so  we decided to stay at a little hotel nearby...Four Seasons At Ejido Benito Juarez. (see pictures). It was no Buckingham Palace, but it was good enough.

We returned to Ciudad Juarez on Thursday and continued preparing for the changes.

This week we met a new investigator, Claudia and her daughter, Fernanda. Claudia is a single mom who owns a beauty parlor nearby. She was a reference from our recent convert, Luz Elena. I just realized that for some reason, we have been finding and teaching a lot of single parents lately. I really admire these investigators because of all the hard work they do to provide for their families and to hold everything together. Claudia told us that our recent convert, Luz, had really sparked her interest in the Church, and that she wanted to feel the peace that she saw in Luz. As we taught her, she expressed to us that she really felt the need to draw closer to God, and to set an example for her young daughter. 

That's all the time I have for now, sorry my letter was so late!

Elder Velazquez

 

Hotel Moreno

 

 Classy floor design

 

 Elder Birchett Chillin'

 Visa Renovation Trip

Letter 47

Familia!

These last few months a big focus we have had in the mission has been being of good cheer (ánimo). We had our Zone Reunion on Monday, and this was the main focus. We told the missionaries that everything they do, they have to do it with ánimo. Our goal was to get rid of all the droopiness going around in the Zone, and basically get  everyone pumped and excited to work. A lot of times, missionaries can get a little discouraged when work starts to slow down in their areas, when they don't get along with their companions, or if something happens back home. This really does effect their work, and desanimo (discouragement) is usually contagious. A gloomy missionary can really bring down a lotta people. Thankfully, their is a cure. Work! 

On Tuesday, tragedy hit the mission, when one of the Senior Couple missionaries passed away. Sister Virginia Torres passed away. She had been serving alongside her husband, Elder Torres for about 10 months. They were the secretaries in charge of Materials and Housing. They were also our neighbors, and good friends. There was a small ceremony in Juarez with all of the secretaries and with the members of the Pradera Ward, where Elder and Sister Torres attended. They will surely be missed, and we have all been praying for Elder Torres.

Since 2 very important secretaries left, we were left with a lot of extra responsibilities and tasks. Most of the week was spent running around tying up loose ends and catching up on other secretary tasks.

Apart from all of the locura around the office, we finished getting everything ready for the baptism of Luz Elena and Alberto Ayala.

We held their baptismal service today, at around 12:00 pm. But man, getting everything ready for this baptism was crazy! We finished giving them their last lesson on Monday, and planned the week out so that they could have their interviews and so that we could have a nice little baptismal service on Saturday. Ha! As usual, everything changed the next day! Our schedule was cut a little from what happened with Sister Torres, Luz Elena's daughter gave birth, and to top it off, the Chapel building was going to be occupied Saturday afternoon for a Young Men stake Conference! Well, after much prayer, we were able to have everything fall into place just perfectly for Luz and Alberto's baptism. It was a great service, and we had a good amount of member participation. Luz and Alberto were so happy to finally get baptised! They are such an awesome couple! Luz is always super friendly; hugging and kissing everyone, people used to think she was already a member! And Alberto has been reading his Book Of Mormon like crazy and beefing up on his Gospel knowledge (plus he already kinda has the High Priest look going on).

Well, that's about all the time we have for today!

Have a great week

Elder Velazquez

 

 

Letter 46: Borregito

Quibole familia,

Every time I go to the Border to the Immigration Office, I always turn my paperwork in to the same 3 people; Vero, Andres, and Trillo. As you can probably imagine, these people are pretty monotonous and bland, and sometimes, a little heartless (or so I thought). Well, over the last few months I've been working as secretary I've become pretty good friends with all of them. In fact, this last time I went to turn in some papers, one of them (Trillo), gave me a glass of Orange Juice and a couple brownies while we worked on the paperwork. But the coolest part came when he told me that he had finally had the missionaries over at his house a few weeks before! For the last 8 months, I've been telling him about our Church and he's finally started to investigate.

This week, we had our monthly Mission Leader Council. The meeting started on Thursday, and continued on to Friday. Well, we got a very special treat this meeting, we got to eat some very delicious barbacoa. Barbacoa is meat traditionally made out of borrego or sheep. A sheep in its first year is called a lamb; and its meat is also called lamb. Here in Juarez, people eat barbacoa made out of Cow, but President Derbez went all out and got a whole lamb. We ordered it a few weeks ago, and Elder Webster and I were in charge of picking it up and having everything ready for our luncheon. We picked up the lamb way across in the outskirts of town, and then booked it back to the meeting to have everything prepped and ready. In the end, we all enjoyed some pretty good barbacoa, and Elder Webster and I got to keep the leftovers. Sister Derbez gave us a pretty good idea of using the meat to make little taquitos and then putting them in the freezer and storing them for later, that way we would have frozen taquitos whenever we got hungry..so we made like 50 taquitos and we still have meat left!

We have been really trying hard to keep all of our recent converts active in the ward. So far, they are all active, except for 1 who moved to Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara a few months ago. Our President has really emphasised on this point of the Work Of Salvation. He says that the fruits of our labor aren't when an investigator gets baptised, but when an investigator progresses in the gospel and endures. We went and visited Connie and Dasha whom we baptised 2 weeks ago. We had made a few appointments throughout the past 2 weeks with her, but they always fell through. We would stop by her house, and she would be at work. Well, we finally got a hold of her on Thursday and paid her a visit to see how she was doing as a new member of the Church. Connie expressed to us that these past few weeks had been really really tough. She no longer faced problems with her family criticizing her for becoming a member, but she was now going through very hard economic problems. She told us that she had been struggling at work, a lot of things had gone south with her personal finances, and she was now facing challenges scraping enough money to bring food to the table. Then she told us something amazing. She said that just as she was loosing all hope, she remembered to pray. After fervent prayer God heard and answered her prayers. She was able to find some extra money in an old photo album she found around her house, a fellow co-worker showed up to her house out of the blue and paid off some old debts, and a fellow friend visited her and helped her pay some bills. Small tears came to her eyes as she expressed to us how she was able to finally find peace and comfort, because she knew that The Lord really heard her pleas.

It's these types of experiences that show to me that the Gospel is so much more than just nice words about Jesus. The Gospel brings peace to the heart and comfort to the soul. It reminds us that there is a God in the heavens who actually hears us, and loves us enough to build us up through challenges and trials. 

I love you familia,

Elder Velazquez

 

  Lil Lamb

  President Derbez choppin up da meat

Elder Thorpe and Me kickin' it.

 Elder Thorpe had to change his name tag to Throp, because Thorpe means clutz.

Letter 45: Trips and Conference

Hello familia!

Well, this week we are not having a real P-Day, so we have this little bit of time between Conference Sessions to write a lil' bit.

So this week was another one of those famous travel weeks.

On Monday and Tuesday, we had splits with 2 of the areas in our Zones. Elder Webster went to Villahumada to work with Elder Gonzalez and his companion, and I headed down to Ejido Benito Juarez to work alongside Elder Martinez and Elder Chigüila.

This was the first time I actually got to do some proselyting work down in Benito, it was pretty fun. The town is really small, and almost everyone knows each other. We contacted a TON of people, and talked to (what felt like) the whole town. Most of the people who live in Benito have lived there their whole life, and have never really left. The town is quiet, and the only things you can really hear are trailers cruising by the nearby highway. The biggest challenge that the missionaries are facing in Benito is teaching lessons during the day. Almost the whole pueblo works in what's called the "Pisca". The "Pisca" is when the people go and work in the nearby chile, pepper, and alfalfa fields. Most of the fields are chiles though, and as a result, almost everyone dries them and sells them alongside the roadside. 

After 2 days of good ol' fashioned proselyting, we headed back to Juarez.

On Wednesday, we took a lil' trip down to Casas Grandes to take care of some secretary business. We were there almost all day, and returned back to Juarez late.

And that brings us to these last couple days.

Well, we have been teaching a couple (Luz Elena and her husband, Alberto) for the last few weeks, and they are awesome! They found the Church through their daughter and her husband, who got baptized about 3 years ago. Luz Elena and Alberto saw a huge change in their daughter's life, and this sparked a great flame of curiosity in their hearts. Well, Luz Elena has been coming to church ever since we found her 3 weeks ago, and her husband has been reading the Book Of Mormon and the Gospel Principals book like crazy (he's already on lesson 18!) We are amazed on how fast they have been progressing, and Luz Elena even came to both of the General Conf. sessions today! 

Well, I don't have much more time, time for Priesthood Session!

Elder Velazquez

Letter 44

Hey familia!

Another hectic week in the life of Elder Velazquez!

Elder Webster and I got to go on a trip alongside President Derbez this week. We left early morning Thursday, and headed to Janos, Chihuahua where I did a bunch of immigration forms for all of the new missionaries that arrived a few weeks ago. After Janos, we accompanied President to Buenaventura, Chihuahua to the LeBaron Colonies. 

The LeBaron colony is actually a polygamist colony that is not associated with the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. The Church does, however, have a small branch a few minutes away, in Buenaventura. President went to go do some interviews, and we got to meet a few interesting people. We met the Jones family, who are Latter Day Saints. Their family line is all over the place, and rather confusing since a long long time ago someone in their family was part of the polygamist Lebaron family. The current Jones family isn't though, but some of their step cousins are...or something like that. Anyway, it was weird seeing so many blue-eyed blondies ALL over the place. Everyone speaks English. After meeting the Jones family, sister Jones gave us some fresh Pecan pie. Most of the people in that little town work with nogales which are pecan trees. I'm not much of a sweet tooth, or a pie guy, but that pecan pie was delicioso.

After Lebaron, we went to Casas Grandes. We met with a few missionaries and tied up some loose ends. We spent the night at the Hacienda Spa Resort...just keeding, it's just a regular hotel. We visited Colonia Juarez the next day, and a little town called Mata Ortiz. Mata Ortiz is famous for their pots. After a short trip back to Janos, we headed back home.

We just got finished with our baptism service. Connie and Dasha Dominguez were baptized today! Ever since we started teaching Connie and Dasha, they have had many many trials. They have overcome those trials with such great faith, and they are now on the path that will lead them to eternal happiness.

Well, that's about all the time we have today folks. Join us next week for more adventures.

Elder Velazquez

Hotel Chillin'

 

Me, Jennifer (a friend of Dasha), Dasha, Connie, Elder Webster

 The Chapel in LeBaron

Letter 41,42,43: Ketchup Week

For the sake of keeping the numbering solid, I have numbered this letter thrice (3 times).

Hello familia it's been a little while since I've written and I have a lot to catch everyone up on!

So lets go back to the big events from these past few weeks.

Elder Robbins (one of President's assistants) finished his mission and returned home. We had a provisinal "assistant" for 2 weeks, up until the cycle ended. When an Assistant is released, everyone is on their heels to see who the new Assistant is going to be. President is so secretive, that he doesn't tell ANYONE (not even the other assistant) who the new one is going to be. He then tells the whole mission the very day of the new Transfer Cycle. And well, the new Assistant is Elder Leifson. Elder Leifson was in a trio with Elder Webster and I way back in January, and now he's back in the area with us!

Both of the sisters who were in this ward had changes and we have 2 new sisters here in the Pradera Ward, Sister Jimenez and Sister Ostos. They are both from Veracruz.

On Monday, the Mission received the most new missionaries it had ever received. We received 28 new missionaries. They come from all around the world, it is exciting to see how the Lord is hastening his Work.

Well, with 28 new missionaries, coordinating the changes was crazy! On Tuesday, we coordinated over 60 changes and it was so hectic. We finished changing everyone at around 1:30 PM, and had no delays! 

Well that about leads us to this week.

This week, I have been working hard in the office to get all the fun paper work done for all the new missionaries. Aside from that, Elder Webster and I are finishing preparing an investigator for baptism. Connie and Dasha will be getting baptized next weekend! Connie and her daughter have faced some pretty tough trials during the time we've been teaching them, but after a month and a half, they are just about ready for their baptism! 

During the past few weeks, we have really seen a huge growth here in the ward, not only because of the recent converts, but we have really been doing our best to bring the Pradera Ward closer together.

Well, I don't have much more time, so I'm off!

Elder Velazquez

Letter 40: Rain

Hello familia,

I hope that all the photos I'm about to send make up for the lack of letter I am going to write this week.

We had an awesome trun out at the baptism on Thursday! A lot of members went and showed their support and love for our investigators. We had a double baptizm. We baptised our investogator Edgar Dominguez, and the Assistants baptised their investigator, Carmen Chavez. We have had 6 batisms in the Zone so far, and will be having 3 more today in the other 2 areas. I am so happy and feel blessed to be able to have the opportunity to serve alongside these great hard working missionaries.

I'm just going to explain some of these pictures really quick. 

We went to Janos this last week. We hadn't been there in like 2 months, and to our surprise it was crazy green! I thought Janos was all dirt, all year! We asked some of the locals, how often it is green in Janos, and they told us that it's usually green for 2 months and then everything dries out again.

We went to Carl's Jr. on Monday. Sister Gladis's son, Izack, took all 4 of us. Izack just returned home from his mission a month ago, and he has been helping us out and coming with us to lessons. He also helped baptize the Assistant's investigator on Thursday.

Izack and his brother, Chapo (Fernando).

It rains here in Juarez, and then everything floods. That's me on the monkeybars, sink or swim.

When it rains it pours. Juarez floods pretty bad.

The Assistants, their investogator (Carmen), our investigator (Edgar), and us.

Us and Edgar

Our investigator's mom, our investigator (Edgar), and Elder Webster and I

Love you guys,

Elder Velazquez

Letter 39: Extra-Ordi​nary week.

Hola Familia,

Burritos are huge here in Juarez. People make burritos out of just about anything. They are very practical and (for the most part) delicious. But one bad burrito can really do some damage...even death. That was an actual headline in the newspaper last week (see photo), and I almost died from the laughter.

This week was one of our few "ordinary" weeks here in the mission. I say ordinary because it was one of the few weeks where we don't travel or have any big meetings or anything like that. Having said that, this week was still extra-ordinary.

We finished prepping our investigator, Edgar, for his baptism next Thursday (Aug. 28). Edgar Dominguez has been investigating the church for a long long long time (like 8+ years), and he is finally getting baptised. We started teaching about 2 months ago, and at first, he wasn't interested...at all. He had had all of the missionary talks, and had pretty much heard it all before. His mom, whose been a member since Edgar was a baby (he's 25, now), had tried everything to get his son baptised...but at the end of the day, the Gospel never really interested Edgar. Well, after 2 months of teaching Edgar, he is finally getting baptised! Teaching Edgar was tricky, because he already had a good amount of knowledge of the Gospel, and had TONS of questions. We built a real relationship with Edgar, and gave him time to learn and applied the Gospel to his needs. Edgar has had a big change in his life, but most importantly, in his heart. He has gone to church every week for the past month and half (except one week he got really sick), and we've gotten him involved with all sorts of Single Adult activities. Elder Webster and I have really witnessed an incredible change in him.

Aside from Edgar, we are also prepping a few more investigators for baptism this cycle. Amongst them is Jonathan Cabrera, a 19 year old young man who has made huge progress in the little time we've know him. His mother is an inactive member (she's been inactive for more than 20 years), and non of his 3 siblings are members either. We are currently teaching him and his sister, Evelyn. He loves coming to church and he even goes to Institute on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

We found a great new red tomato this week! Her name is Luz Elena, and she is so sweet and so ready to be made into ketchup. She is 55, and her youngest daughter and son-in-law just moved in with her this past week. And guess what? They're both members. It turns out that her daughter got baptised when she got married a few years ago, and Luz Elena has been super curious to learn about the Church. She told us that she wants to be baptised (as a missionary, hearing this gives you a mini heart attack of excitement) and learn more about the Gospel.

This week, I read an awesome article in the Liahona. It is in this month's issue, and it is titled "Why We Share The Gospel" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Elder Christofferson focuses on the main reason why we share the Gospel, and that is to "Invite others to come unto Christ". "Inviting others to come unto Christ" is our primary missionary purpose (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 1). Everything we do, it all points to this purpose. All of this great Work, has the sole purpose of bringing others to Christ. "Remember that our missionary purpose is not only to warn others but also to save them, not only to teach but also to baptize, not only to bring others unto Christ but also to make them steadfast in Christ to the end." If there is something I've learned here, it's that there is no greater joy as a missionary, than leading someone to Jesus Christ, and seeing His Gospel change them.

Elder Velazquez

 

Ordinary Costco Tasks

Oridinary Newspaper Headlines

 

 

Letter 38: Cakes and Testimonies

There have been a bunch of birthdays this past week. Dad, yours was on the 6th, on the 8th was Elder Robbins (President's Assistant), and on the 12th was President Derbez's birthday. Needless to say, I've been eating a lot of cake lately.

On Tuesday, President Derbez invited us to go to his house and have a birthday lunch with him. All of  Secretaries and the Assistants went to President's house and he cooked a special lunch...Mole Poblano. President is quite the cook (I'm not kidding, he really knows his way around the kitchen). All of the Secretaries pitched in and we bought him a 3 leches chocolate cake. We shared some laughs, some stories, and then some burps.

I almost skipped over the events on Monday. 

Monday was our 2nd Zone Conference as Zone leaders. Since our Zone is super spread out (4 of the areas are about 2 hours away from the city), we usually have all of the missionaries come a day early and stay over night. But this time we decided it would be easier if have them come really early in the morning, give them the conference, and then have them go back to their little ranchos. This way, the missionaries don't waste 2 whole days of work, and we don't have to have them stay at our house and rummage through our fridge. We had a really good Zone Conference, and we feel really pumped for this up and coming cycle. Tangent: I just realized that we are about to start week 3 of the cycle, so we are already half way through it...I told you time goes by super quick.

The rest of this week was back to the normal routine. We had some solid lessons with our investigators this week, and we found 2 new great investigators.

While we were walking towards the office yesterday, a man (Mario Calvo) stopped us in the street and asked us the reason why we preached. These last few months I've been on the mission, I've seen that this is actually a pretty common question. A lot of people see us walking around, and they wonder what we do. As we started to answer this Mario's question, he stopped me and asked me, "I want to know why you missionaries preach with such conviction. How do you know what you preach is true." I quickly realized that this man wasn't looking for just another common answer, he really wanted to know. I was prompted to simply share my testimony and I told him that I preach because I sincerely know that our message is true. I didn't add anything else, I didn't make it fancy. Just a simple, straightforward testimony. Well, this man immediately opened his heart, and gave us his phone number. He asked us a bunch of questions, and we told him we would be more than happy to answer them in his home. He agreed, and we set an appointment to see him on Sunday. 

If there is something I've learned here in the mission, is that a simple and sincere testimony can be sufficient to penetrate even the hardest of hearts. 

Elder Velazquez

Jasmine & Anita's Baptism last week/ bad haircut #1

Birthday Bash

Letter 37

It has been raining a lot lately here in Juarez. It usually rains for about an hour in the mornings or mid afternoon, and then the sun comes up and rains havoc over the people in Juarez. It gets so ridiculously hot and humid after it rains. And then come the floods. The streets here have a horrible irrigation system (worse than Mexico City), and a little rain costs half the city to flood.

Here in Juarez, there is also a surprising amount of people who know people who have either died, or almost died getting struck by lightning. I always thought that being struck by lightning was a "one in a million" deal, but I guess not

This week was week 1 of a new cycle. A fresh new batch of missionaries arrived on Monday, On Tuesday, Elder Webster and I coordinated the changes for the whole mission. I broke my personal record for finishing the changes this cycle. We were able to move everyone around, and get them to their new area by 2:35 pm. The previous change we finished at 4:12 pm, and the one before that we finished at 6:30 pm. We finally got the hang of changes now, and I don't stress out too bad anymore.

 

Well, after changes, it was back to the daily grind for Elder Webster and I...almost. On Thursday and Friday we had our monthly "Mission Leadership Council" with President and all the other Zone leaders in the mission. To kick off Thursday's meeting, we had a mini work-out boot camp with all of the zone leaders and lead sister training leaders. Hermano Reyes (President's 1st councilor) taught us the correct way to work out in the mornings. Every morning we are supposed to work out for 30 minutes as soon as we wake up, and President wanted to see who really worked out in the mornings. Well, after an intense 30 min. session, we all realized that the exercises we all do in the mornings isn't even close to what we're supposed to be doing! The next day we all woke up crazy sore.

On Friday we had our regular meeting with President Derbez, and he announced a few changes we are going to apply to the mission. Most of it is pretty technical, and won't really effect everyone, so i will omit the details.

 

This brings us to today. Today we are having a baptism (in an hour actually). Jasmine and Anita Alanis are getting baptised this week. Jasmine and Anita were found by the sister missionaries here in Pradera and they have been coming to church regularly and have loved it. The sisters did most of the teaching (they live a couple blocks from their house), but Elder Webster and I helped teach them a bit as well. Jasmine is 20 years old and her sister, Anita is 11. Jasmine is cultivating a strong testimony in the Church, and has been a great influence for the rest of her family to start hearing about the Gospel. Elder Robbins and I will be baptising them.

 

Well, that about wraps up the week (and my time). I love you all!

Elder Velazquez

quick pic from Elder Velazquez

 

Letter 36: Red Tomatos, Green Tomatillos.

Quióbole familia,

Quióbole is a pretty commonly used slang word here. A bunch of the common folk here are always greeting us withquióbole. It's a pretty funny word, and it got stuck on me these past few days. 

Well, this week is the last week of the cycle. I honestly cannot remember which cycle I'm on, but each one seems to end quicker than the last. Week 5 of each cycle is always the craziest week. Mainly because we are all running around making sure that everything is perfect for changes. We are receiving 13 new missionaries this cycle, and only 2 are leaving. President is opening up 3 new areas this cycle, and 7 the next! 

Right now, I have been wrapping up planning the schedules for Monday and Tuesday, as well as all the logistics for the changes on Tuesday. On Monday, we usually just do a little "meet-and-greet" with the new missionaries. The first bunch to arrive is always the latino missionaries (coming from the Mexico City CCM) and the American missionaries usually arrive in the afternoon (from the Provo MTC). We go and pick them up at the airport, take all their bags to a Hotel (where they stay their first night), and then bring them back to the office for interviews with the President. Then we feed them, I do all their immigration paperwork, and then they go back to their hotel and chillax until district meeting.  President changed the way new missionaries get incorporated into the mission, so that the new missionaries don't get so stressed out on their first day. On Tuesday, Elder Webster and I are usually running around getting the rest of the mission changed to their new areas and the Assistants and President are giving training meetings. Tuesday is thee craziest day out of the whole cycle. But I love it!

For the past 2 weeks or so, it has been a little hard for us to find new investigators. We have really been focusing a ton on our progressing investigators, and working with our recent converts, and we haven't really been finding a bunch of new investigators. We are contacting and tracting a lot on the streets, but a lot of the people we find just don't make the cut. By "the cut" I mean, that they are interested in our message, and ready to take a baptism. Here in Juárez we call the people that are ready to be baptised "escogidos", or "tomates rojos (red tomatoes)". 

Quick tangent: Here in the North, people call red tomatoes "tomates", and the green tomatillos "tomates" as well. For those who may not know, the "tomatillo" is a common green chile here in Mexico and it doesn't really have anything in common with the red tomato (except the shape). This just drives me nuts because I never know what type of vegetable people are referring to. They even announce it as "tomates" at the supermarkets. 

Another quick tangent: This tomato terminology originated from a meeting we had with Elder Johnson (of the 70) about 2 months ago. He made the comparison of an investigator to a tomato. He said that when a tomato is ripe, it is red and ready for the pickin. He said that an investigator is the same. When they are fulfilling commitments, assisting church regularly, reading their scriptures, and experiencing a true conversion, they are as ripe as a red tomato. But sometimes as missionaries, we focus a lot on tomatoes that are still green and hard and not ready for the pickin'. So we should let those tomatoes mature, and leave them, because in the future they will surely be "picked" by some other missionary.

SO ANYWAY, we hadn't really been finding a bunch of red tomatoes. A lot of little, hard, green ones. Well, on Thursday we had our "tomato" prayers answered. As we were coming out of our lunch appointment, a white sedan stops and pulls up next to us. I was holding a copy of The Book Of Mormon, and this lady pointed at it and said "When do you guys give study sessions about that blue book?". We told her we gave them every single day, and were ready to give her one. She pointed out where she lived and asked us to drop by the next day. Well, we headed over the next day and gave her a nice little study about that marvelous blue book. She told us that her 2 sons in Texas had just recently gotten baptised in our Church, and this sparked a curiosity in her. She said that she had seen a few people walking around with ties on, but she wasn't sure if they "gave classes on the blue book" or if they were just Jehova's Witnesses. When she saw us holding The Book Of Mormon, she finally decided to talk to us. She loved the lesson, and accepted to come to church on Sunday with us!

I know the Lord hears our prayers, and he knows exactly when we need them answered. I love praying so much. I hope you all do to.

Elder Velazquez

Elder Velazquez and his care package!

Letter 35: Maybe I Should Start Putting Titles On Each Letter

We saw some blogs that other missionary's families are running for missionaries serving here in Juarez and I noticed they all add a title to each letter they write. I don't know if it's my lack of time or creativity, but I never added titles, just numbers. But now I will add a quick title to my letters (I will try my best).

This was the first week in a long while that I didn't have to travel anywhere. So I focused all my energy on getting down to the nitty gritty and setting some secure baptismal dates for next month. Well, after much prayer and teaching, The Lord delivered. We set 3 baptismal dates this week!

The first date is for an old investigator we've been working on. His name is Alejandro, and we have been so close to baptising him, but something always gets in the way! I´ve never had to push back a baptismal date as much as I have with Alejandro! We worked with him really hard this week, and finally set one more date, August 2nd. We are going to have to work really hard, but I am going to get that man in the water!

We also set a baptismal date with a newer investigator, Connie D. Connie is a half Russian, architect/private eye/ criminologist/painter/single-mom. She is one of the most interesting investigators I've ever taught, and she has tons of crazy stories to tell. She was a reference from a member, Sister Araceli G, and she is an awesome investigator. We are teaching her and her 8 (almost 9) year old daughter, Dacha. Connie has had some incredible experiences as she has started to investigate the Church. A little before she met us, she had a dream in which she saw her little daughter drowning, holding on to a book. As she got a closer look, she realized that this book was the same book she had seen at a friend's house. Well, that friend was Araceli, and that book was (you guessed it) the Book Of Mormon: Another Testament Of Jesus Christ! Connie is determined that this is the true church, and we set a baptismal date for August 14th! She is anxious to learn more about the Gospel, and has been attending church and the Relief Society activities regularly.

The final date we set was nothing short of a miracle.

I think I´ve talked about this investigator. His name is Edgar D. He is the son of a less-active sister in the ward. He is 25, and has never had a solid interest in the Church. We started teaching him a few weeks ago, and really focused on becoming his friend and showing him how the Gospel applies to his own life. Teaching him was a bit tricky, and getting him to go to the church was even trickier. We were just about to drop him, when all of a sudden, he started to come to church. He's been coming for the last 4 weeks, and has gotten involved with the Single Adults in the ward. He has really seen a change in his life, and we´ve totally seen a change in his heart. At the end of our last lesson with him this week, I couldn't stop feeling this itch to invite him to be baptised. Thoughts of doubt came into my head, but I quickly discarded them. We invited Edgar to finally be baptised, and he accepted! Elder Webster and I couldn't believe it. We set his date for the 28th.

I love preaching the Gospel, and I love seeing people get closer and closer to baptsim.

Elder Velazquez

Letter 33/34

Sorry about last week's lack of letter everyone.

We were in the office, and I took a long time writing my reports to President and time escaped me. But, now I have more time to write to you all and there's a bunch of stuff to tell you all about.

So a quick wrap up of 2 weeks ago.

 

Elder Webster and I held our very first Zone Conference 2 weeks ago here in Juarez. It was a 2 hour conference, and we had a lot of fun doing it. We tried to make it not so..boring. So I made a little presentation, and slapped a couple of jokes and giggles to the conference. I think it went pretty well.

 

We did some mini-divisions that week. Elder Webster and I split off and worked with 2 of the District leaders in our zone. I went with Elder Beltran and Elder Webster went with Elder Jackson. During these "divisions", we usually work for a whole 24 hours with another companion to get an idea of how they work, the teaching methods they use, and their strengths and weaknesses. We then give them a small feedback, and send them on their way.

 

After our divisions, it was back to hard work. We really started wipping out lessons and working with our investigators to have them all at church this Sunday. One thing we learned was that the proof of our labors are shown with how many people actually go to church on Sunday. 4 new invesitgators at church that Sunday.

 

Now up to this last week (June 14th to today).

On Monday, President called us into his office and asked us if we had any plans for Tuesday and Wednsday. We are never really sure how to answer (sometimes it's a trap), so I told him same old same old. He laughed and asked us if we wanted to accompany him on a trip he was having. So Elder Webster and I packed our bags and headed on a little rode trip with the Jefe. We left Tueday morning at around 7 am and drove to a bunch of little towns that are dispersed around the state of Chihuahua. First off was Ascencion, Chihuahua. Ascencion is about an hour and a half away from Ciudad Juarez, and is a pretty decent sized middle-of-nowhere town. President Derbez had a meeting with the Municipal President of Ascencion and talked about how the missionaries can really be a great benefit to the community in various aspects.

After Ascencion, we headed over to Janos where I had to do some immigration stuff. After Janos we went to Casas Grandes and met with their Municipal President, President Baca. We were accompanied in this meeting with President Derbez's other counclir, Hermano Jeffrey Jones. Brother Jeffrey Jones is this big 'ol white cowboy who lives in the Mormon Colonies. He speaks amazing spanish (if you close your eyes, it sounds like a regular Norteño Mexican) and has been a Federal Senator, as well as a Diputado (like a State Representative) for Chihuahua. It was such an astounding experience being part of this meeting.

After the meeting, Elder Webster and I headed over to a local Church and took new missionary profile photos for the missionaries in the Colonies. That night, we ran some errands with President, had some dinner and stayed overnight in this little hotel.

The next morning, we woke up, had some breakfast (pancakes and chilaquiles), and headed over to another town, Galeana. We had ameeting with their Municipal President, President Areola, and then continued to the next town, Lebaron. Lebaron is a pretty well-known polygamist colony here in Chihuahua. It was a pretty amazing view, because as you drive down the desert, all of a sudden you come over a few hills, and you can see a bunch of green-ness, Nogales trees, grass, and huge Mansions are what make up this little colony. There are thousands of polygamist there, and they are all American-looking (most of them are bilingual). There is also 4 missionaries serving in that town, and the next one over, Buenaventura.

After stopping to buy some water melons and cantalope, we drove over to Buenaventura to run some errands with President.

Once we were all finished in Buenaventura, we drove to Villahumada to meet with their Municipal President (except he wasn't there). We stopped by a little town, Flores Magon, to get some ice cream first.

After Villahumada, we finished by stopping by in Ejido Benito Juarez and then we drove back to Ciudad Juarez.
It was a really neat trip, and we got to talk a lot with President and see his missionary skills in action while meeting with the Municipal Presidents. Presdient Derbez is super incredible at applying the Book Of Mormon to all situations. Let me give you an example, while we were meeting with the M.P of Casas Grandes, he whipped out Mosiah 2:17 and then talked about King Benjamin and how he had to be a rightous leader and also serve his fellow man. The Municipal President read the scripture aloud and BAM, the Spirit was there testifying left and right!

I learned so much from this trip, and I am thankful that I had this opportunity to be a part of it.

 

Well, until next time.

Elder Velazquez

 

Lebaron

Our travels, and places we visited.

President driving