Growth is Amazing!

   I studied about pride this morning. I was reading in the teachings of President Benson and some other scriptures. My studies have taught me a lot about what I am like, what God wants me to be like, and who I need to be for future experiences in my life. I found that the deep water doesn't get shallow. (That is Benji’s way of saying that when the Lord wants you to be learning and things get hard that it just means  you’re going to learn even more) I'm glad it doesn't :D I love being here with Elder Corral. I am learning so much.
This week was wonderful. We had a great training meeting last Tuesday for new Elders and their trainers. We are very excited to work every day. We are doing well in the 12 weeks program. I think Elder Corral is progressing well. I have found that these principles that I'm learning are totally changing our studies and our relationship. We had a new investigator this week that had been a reference from about 3 months ago, but we were able to work with the member to have a lesson. He accepted another! He began to talk with the member, and said that he was very interested in the church. This same investigator would hide from us before because his mom didn't want him to listen!
We're going to see some more baptisms in the district-lots of interviews. Sadly all of our progressing investigators fell through- we're going to get to work with some of them and find some new investigators this week. 

    Things are going well. Time flies when you're serving the Lord. I can't imagine how fast the other half of my mission is going to be.

We've been working some more with the home teachers this week. The Bishop has had us working with them and so we've been in that process. One of our good friends-David-wasn't going out to visit with us, but he's started back again. (That investigator was his friend. He got pretty excited) I hope that things keep going well with you guys. I'm praying for you and I love you. 

Elder Dazey 

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

It's amazing how important the Sabbath day is. We've found that those who stop going to church almost always start breaking other serious laws of God-The Word of Wisdom, Chastity, tithing (which you can't really pay if you don't go ), and they lower their standards. We were actually talking about that today- About how people are going to need to have a personal conversion and complete with those laws- or it's going to be a toasty time when the Savior comes. I think it was President Hinckley that said that we as citizens of the earth are the reason that businesses open Sundays-because we are the ones that use their services. I love how Preach My Gospel says it- "Our Sabbath-day behavior is a reflection of our commitment to honor and worship God. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants." 

   The Sabbath Day is a covenant that we have between us and "When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected.

    Thanks for everything that you are doing Mom, and for your great example. I'm super excited to have a nephew! Sorry- I told Dad How excited I was about it, but I guess I didn't send it in my letter to you. That's wonderful!

Well- in two weeks we have found 11 new investigators. We have found family members of members that we have always visited that aren't members, and their family never gave the referral. We've been working super-duper hard, and we're getting better every day. We're having lots of fun and learning a lot together. 

And to Ken he wrote: I forgot to tell you last week- but I must thank you for a contact that we made last week. We were passing by a cake shop when I heard "battle horn." I turned and saw that the man was on his computer. I recognized that sound-he was playing Age of Empires. What a surprise. We started talking about the game, and we had a lesson about the Sabbath day in that moment. We found that he was good friends of someone in the ward. He is very open and accepted baptism-sadly the sister missionaries are now going to teach him because he lives in their area, but it was a cool experience- and I thought- Thanks Dad.

 The work is great- and I've studied a few times this week about charity to get myself more consecrated and loving. 

   WANNA KNOW SOMETHING REALLY COOL? WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE YESTERDAY.

So...maybe it wasn't the temple temple-but it was an extension of the temple. Remember when I said that I saw a temple dedication while I was in the MTC? The same thing happened here but with the Mexico City Temple. It was awesome. President Eyring dedicated the temple and Elder Holland was there with him. It was fantastic. We saw the dedication in the stake building which was made an extension of the temple for a day. We also got to see the cultural presentation Saturday night. It was all about the history of the Church in Mexico. They did a great job. One day I'd like to be in one of the church theater presentations.

   Well- We're going to have a meeting for the new Elders and trainers tomorrow. I'm pretty excited. It should be good. Lot's of things are happening! For the first time in all of the time that I have been in this area we have investigators that are progressing. WHAT WHAT! THAT'S SO AWESOME! Hopefully everything will go smoothly. One of them is Atheist but super willing to know-and she already prayed about the Book of Mormon and got an answer- just that she isn't sure. Another has been to church about a million times and accepted baptism-like-accepted-not like a tentative plan-like he already has a testimony. We are so excited. There are Miracles that are happening here. These investigators are ready! I love it! We'll keep working hard and we'll keep learning. I am so glad to be here with Elder Corral. There are things that I wouldn't be learning if I were in any other situation.

 Well, I love you guys. I hope that everything is going well. ALWAYS GIVE REFERENCES. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE MISSIONARIES FIND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND BAPTIZE THEM. SEND THE MISSIONARIES-IN FACT ACCOMPANY THE MISSIONARIES TO THEIR HOUSE AND INVITE THEM. You can see that I feel very strongly about these things. It's wonderful when we find new investigators- but I can't imagine how sad I would feel to find that my friends are accepting the gospel and that I never invited them. Just a thought. I'll be sending so many referrals when I get home. Sorry for the random thought-it's been on my mind lately- because it's already happened many times.

  Love,

Elder Dazey

The first picture is one of those giant things that men swing upside down on. And it's huge! They do a big party here called the Atlixcayotontli- look Atlixco up in youtube-it's cool.

Growth Brings Miracles

I think that I mis-interpreted the tone of Benji’s letter last week. To me he sounded stressed out and frazzled but to him, I think he was expressing renewed determination. I tried to write of encouragement this week and he let me know he is fine and growing through his experiences every day. Here is what he said:

There are not times when I have not put forth my all. I am always trying my best. My best hasn't always been perfect. I'm glad for this service. The thing is that I have changed so much. I treat people differently. I invite better. I am always very happy with the people. Could I be better? yes. The stress is something that gets me to do things better. If I don't have stress, I can't improve. It's something that I think has really helped me this week. As I think about how to get better and I work my hardest and think and pray-That's when the inspiration comes. That's when I know what God wants of me. When I walk until I crawl and I just keep going-spiritually and sometimes physically-that's when the grace comes. That's when the miracles happen. I think that sometimes that's why more miracles happen “in the last 30 minutes”, when I’m about used up. It's always after we've given our all. I stress-but I'm happy. I think about what I can do better so that I can be better. Does knowing that I need to change something bring stress? Yes. Repentance-although it may be repentance of a sin that I didn't know about before- is always painful-but always brings more happiness.

   About the thoughts of what I should have accomplished-you're right. I shouldn't ever think those thoughts. If I'm putting my all-that's enough. I just always like to get better.

   Sorry that I don't have much time to talk about my week. It was good-We found new investigators. Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine. 

Love,

Elder Dazey

Ps. The picture is of the family that the sister brought to baptism this week!

Being Organized and not freaking out!

   I'm trying super hard. Keep praying for me. Miracles are ready to come, I just need more faith. I need to give more love. It is REALLY strange to be almost half way through my mission. I don't like the feeling. It doesn't feel right. I feel like a sophomore. Like a Wise Fool in my spiritual progression. SO MUCH TO FEEL! SO MUCH TO LEARN! I need that. It is a little strange to train again but my companion is learning a ton. Especially of English. I don't think that I have had such good language studies in all my mission. I made a daily schedule and goals for my study-thank you PMG (Preach My Gospel). I am learning a lot from him. From the experience and from his willingness to work.

    Well, this week has been so different. I remember what it was like to train Elder Hale, and so I am trying to do things better. Elder Corral learns fast, and is a really good missionary. We get along really well. 

  We have some plans to start baptizing. I have realized that it is super easy to not focus in the mission with someone so new. We are working hard- just that our conversations are not focused enough. We've already had to make many changes, but I'm going to keep having us make more changes. I realized that I have been obedient for so long that obedience has become second nature, but I can't stop improving. I need to do it.  I have people to help. I'm already seeing many reasons why it was important for me to train someone now. For my sake, for his sake, for the area, and because the Lord will reveal many things that He has not yet revealed to me. I need to listen to the spirit more. I just know that I have many things that I still need to do-and I need some stress if I want to be a better missionary. (I have always functioned better under stress than when things are easy). I got myself organized this week. I got my exercise and diet organized. I got my night schedule reorganized. I got my studies more organized. God taught me a simple plan to start baptizing families. 

   Elder Corral is doing really well. This transfer is going to be amazing. It will change our missions and our lives. I can already feel it. This is a marvelous work. I am excited to one day fall at the feet of my Savior and tell him what I have done. He's blessing us both a lot right now. We are happy. We got a new investigator this week that was the brother of a less active. He started off saying that he didn't want to come to church when we saw him in the street. I almost walked past him. The Spirit told me to teach him. We did. He accepted baptism and we hope to see him progress-for some reason he didn't come to church-but that didn't get us down. We have a plan. We have a vision. We might just need more faith.

  I love you guys so much!

-Elder DAZEY

Learning to love better

So to start out, my new companion is hilarious. He's from Sinaloa, Mexico. His name is Elder Corral. Thngs with our investigators are going well, and soon they'll be going even better. Things are a litttle harder training and district leadering at the same time, but I'm learning to manage it better. The two sisters in my ward were taken out and exchanged. One from another ward was exchanged too. It has rained as much as it was. We were asked to give "father's school blessings" from a widow yesterday. We weren't able to, but I was very touched by the invitation.
    Well my companion and I are excited. Hopefully we can keep it up. This transfer has gotten me thinking again.
Well, Elder Corral learned what obediencia con exactitud (Being exactly Obedient) was when we ran home to get back on time. I took some time to teach him about the area book and how to work with it. We've had some great lessons, and we saw some miracles in the first few days he’s been here. We were able to teach some new investigators. Elder Corral invited them to baptism and got them to commit to a baptismal date. We are trying to get better at gaining the trust of the investigators. I am going to need a lot of practice with that too. We spent most of today with the zone leaders, and he has already gotten to know his leaders and loves them. We have worked, and worked, and worked. We have been tired, and sometimes it is hard to get everything in. We are now more organized and hope to go at this with all of the HEART, might, MIND, and strength that we have. (Sometimes those are the hardest ones) I realized that I need to focus on receiving revelation for my area. I've been here 2 transfers, and if I don't watch out I'll fall into a routine that doesn't have routine baptisms :D
We are going to get some lists printed. We have some, but hopefully this time we can find some of those lost, lost sheep. Elder Corral is a fast learner. He's a good helper and has good ideas. I love him. He's a good guy-and he's funny  :D He was telling me how excited he was to have an American companion so he could learn English-Man he learns fast. He prayed for an American companion. He prayed our companionship into reality. He shared a scripture in English with a member today.
I was talking to Elder Gutierrez today (One of the Zone Leaders) and he mentioned that we need to make sure we have short lessons, and that we gain their trust with our love. I feel like that is something I have always searched for in my mission. I feel like I need to show that kind of love and interest in them so that I can help them accept this message better. Sometimes I forget about that part. Sometimes I feel like there is one Elder Dazey with Missionaries and Members, and that I don't share that same person with the investigators enough.
Well here goes nothing! Let's get to work. I'm always happy to know how I can improve. It reminds me to be humble, and makes me a better person. I love you all. I'm excited for our district leader meeting tomorrow. 

Love, 

Elder Dazey 

The Chance to Train Again!

     Things are going great here. We are working our tails off. I got to do 3 baptismal interviews this week. It was awesome. We had our interviews with President. Man was it awesome. He came to our stake center, and when I walked into his office, I felt like I was on holy ground. He taught me a lot about the power of planning, and we talked about Elder Portillo a bit. I got a call on Thursday. Elder Hale is going to have a BROTHER. Haha-mission family jokes. I'm gonna train again! He get's here tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a picture in the transfers of me, my trainee, Elder Hale, Elder Sosa, and my Uncle in the mission. President told us that we can't tell anyone how much time we have in the mission anymore. I'm excited to see if we can make it 2 transfers without the members of our area figuring out how much time we have in the mission  :D I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm really excited. I love getting a brand, new companion. I keep trying to imagine the many different ways in which he could be, and what he will be like after a 2 week adjustment to the mission. I'M SO EXCITED! I will train him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.
     Elder Portillo and I have been doing well this week. I'm gonna miss him :( We managed to get some great work done with the less actives this week. THESE MEMBERS ARE GOING TO CHURCH! YES! We planned to get more new investigators than what we did, and we worked super hard to do it, but we at least managed one last night in the last hour of the day. She accepted baptism, and happened to know the brother of the Ward who was accompanying us. It was a great lesson! She even had a piano, so we sang a hymn while the brother, who came with us, played.
     I realized that most of the times that we plan, things don't go as planned, but I think that it is good that way. Sometimes I think that God makes sure that someone is not home so that we go with someone else who needs our help at that time. And because we planned-we manage to be in the right place at the right time. We got to visit that sister because another lesson fell through. We hadn't even planned to see her, but we were prepared in that moment to remember her name when she would be home.
It's been a good week, and I'm excited for this one. 

Love, 

Elder Dazey 

Teaching About Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

 In that family we have been working with, the son is progressing more. No date for baptism yet- but they said that they'd read the Book of Mormon.   I'm learning a lot here and I'm glad to be in His work. I think I know now when I am the 4th missionary and when I am the 3rd. I continually change my view of myself, God and the world. We got some good things done this week. We found some of the less active recent converts we've been searching for. We finally got to teach them! Sadly they didn't come to church, but we now know that there is a lot of work to do with them.
   I was thinking a lot about my boldness as a teacher as I studied chapter 11 of Preach My Gospel this week. One of the less actives we are teaching was in his house trying to sell paintings yesterday. We had already taught him about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and he said he would go to church but didn't. We invited him again yesterday and he said yes. I then invited him to close up shop in that moment. He immediately began to protest saying that he needed to sell on Sundays. He had a hard time understanding why he should not sell on the Sabbath. His wife kept talking to him and I told him that God didn't want him selling that day. I invited him to close up and come to church again and he took a painting off the wall. We helped him close shop. J
The district is doing well. Elder Portillo taught a wonderful class about receiving references in the District Meeting this week. The Sisters are hard workers. They are doing very well- they just need a good cheerleader now and then. I'm glad to be serving here with my companion in this district.

 We had a fun weekly planning session this week. I was trying to figure out how to help Elder Portillo take the lead. I pretended to be a new Elder, and Elder Portillo guided the whole thing. He seemed to like it too. I'm here to work with all my heart, might, mind and strength. 

   I hope everything keeps going well with you guys! I'll tell you how my birthday goes next week. I love you MUCHISIMO (So much)! 

-Elder Dazey