Week 47 Villa Bonita

Hey guys, 

This week was definitely a lot calmer than last week. We actually were able to get some of the things back that were stolen. I got my camera charger back and my comp got his wallet and debit cards that he had already cancelled.  The cholo had already spent all the money on his personal debit card before my companion could cancel it.  The rest of the stuff I'm sure is long gone.

We have a lot of investigators now. Here´s a little bit about them:

Orlando: He is best friends with 2 guys from our ward. He went to the Young Men´s camp and is in the ward choir and going to mission prep classes. Obviously he will be baptized very soon.

Andrea: She is Orlando´s mom. She came to church for the first time yesterday and seems really interested.

Marisol: She is Keylani´s mom. The president made me promise that Marisol would be baptized before he gave me permission to baptize Keylani. She is progressing slowing, but I know I can keep my promise.

Edgar: He has so many different ideas about the world and religion and science. It seems that whenever I teach him, the lessons are super intense and I teach really well. The last time we had a lesson with him, he wanted to practice his English, so I taught the plan of salvation in English. He kept telling me how everything that I told him makes so much sense to him. Edgar is the funnest investigator to teach because there are so many "wow" experiences where I can see in his eyes that he had just learned something new and important.

Pablo Ruiz: For some reason that old man didn't go to church yesterday, we´re going to find out why. This week, we taught him the Word of Wisdom which he thinks is amazing.

Ivan: He is a really smart 10 year old kid whose parents are inactive members of the church. He has been to church 3 times and wants to be baptized.

Juan Pablo: He is another kid whose older brother is a recent convert of the church. He is progressing slowly just because his parents always take them on trips every weekend and they hardly can go to church.

Luis Angel: He also didn't make it to church yesterday, but wants to be baptized because his girlfriend is the bishop´s daughter.

Eleazar: His wife and grandson are my converts. He seems to have no desire to quit drinking coffee and has stopped coming to church. Men sometimes are so much more difficult than women to convert.

Those are our main investigators. This Sunday we also had a miracle happen at church. A family of 6 showed up. No one knows who they are. One of them says that he lived in Utah for 5 years. He got back to Mexico and brought his whole family to the church. He wants to be baptized on Wednesday. The rest of his family will be baptized in the end of December. I talked to the president and he says it´s ok, so we will be having a baptism on Wednesday I guess. Miracles do happen.

Funny random story: So my comp and I met some guy and started to teach him. My comp was talking to him and the guy asked where my comp was from. When my comp said Puebla, he was surprised. He asked "If your from Mexico, why do you talk so weird? I understand the Gringo better than you." That was pretty funny. I did feel bad. It didn't help very much to boost my companion´s confidence, but it sure boosted mine.

Thanksgiving was awesome here. Because we are in the mission president´s ward, he invited our district to eat dinner in his home. There is a senior couple from California that cooked a very delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We ate turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn, fruit salad, regular salad, and of course, tamales. It was perfect. I didn't know it was possible to find that food in Mexico.

That was my week. It was pretty amazing. It sounds like you all had a pretty amazing Thanksgiving also. I love you guys!

-Elder Steele

On a side note...This is what I just got from President. Last week I asked him to keep me in Pioneros, because we are almost at transfers again and we have a lot of investigators.

Esta haciendo un gran trabajo en Pioneros!!, usted quedara alli!!!

(You are doing a great job in Pioneros!!, You will stay there!!!  :)

This is Thanksgiving Dinner!!
The people are (left to right): Alex Munive, Elder Rojas, Elder Reader, Elder Funk, Sister Perez,
Sister Palmer, Sister Munive, Sister Downs, Elder Downs, Elder Morrison, Elder Poaletti,
Elder Steele, Sister Rodgrigues, Sister Patraca, and Kenny Munive.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner

Just hanging out!

After the dinner