A NEW COMPANION!!

What a great week it has been!! It's also been pretty slowwwww... but as my subject line mentions ... I've got a new companion!! His name is Elder Anrubio and he is the Best!! Granted it's pretty hard to top Elder García, I'm gonna miss him so much, I can tell you that!! But Elder Anrubio is a great missionary and I'm so excited to work with him!! 

Now, there wasn't much going on in my week, but we do have a new investigator!! It's kind of a crazy story so hold on!!

We had been teaching this guy in the plaza at the center of the town for a few weeks now, and he hadn't been super receptive to our message. The last time we taught him he asked us to stop, which really bummed Elder García and I out. But just before we left, this guy who was sitting near us said, "I've been listening to your messages over the past few days while you've been talking to that other guy, and I want to learn more about this Book of Mormon." Our jaws dropped. How cool is that???!!! It just goes to show us that Heavenly Father really has a plan for everything!!! We have our first lesson tomorrow. Soooooo wish us luck!! I'm so excited to teach him and he really seems to have a desire to learn more!

Anyways that's pretty much it!! Sorry this email is so short, I have some stuff to clean up at the house. Sooooo have an amazing week, but dont have too much fun without me!!

Me and my new companion!! Elder Anrubio

We went and got breakfast, and this is what we got... who says you can't have cookies for breakfast?!

My beautiful home Benito Juárez. Gotta say, best sky in the world. 

Indepencia De México!

Woot woot, another week down and another one on the way!! This week has been crazy!! I had the amazing opportunity of celebrating Independence Week with the amazing people of Mexico!! It was sooooooooo cool!! We started our week by heading to a different area (Villa Ahumada) to help them with a fiesta they were having that evening. It was so cool!! We had a massive piñata and we played a ton of games! I wasn't able to get any super good pictures but it was awesome!!

Oh on a side note, I also got to try crickets.... they was very interesting... anywayyyyys, the party was so much fun and the people were amazing!! I was literally in Mexican food heaven. But, because I'm not quite in tune with the Mexican term for SPICY, I had no idea that they actually put little green and red specs of FIRE in there tamales!! I CAN’T EVEN EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW SPICY THEY WERE!! It was so funny because everyone gathered around me before I took a bite. I didn’t think that it was gonna be TOO bad, but man.... I'm sweating just thinking about it now!! I'm so glad that we had a ton of “melon” (a watermelon drink, which is sooo good by the way) to cool my mouth down!! 

Can I just say, I love Mexico??!! It is so amazing here and the people are amazing!! I have learned so much from them in my short time of being here and they are so patient with my broken Spanish. They are the best!! 

Ok, back to my week... we got back to Benito the next day at 3pm and went and taught some lessons. But because it was La Día de la Independencia we had to head home early which was totally fine with me. Elder García and I got to hang out and eat some fiesta leftovers (not the tamales of course :P ). I even got to talk to my family the next morning which was awesome!! The next few days are kind of a blur, but we taught a ton of lessons. WHICH IS HUGEEEE!! Some days we dont have the opportunity to teach at all, but Heavenly Father really blessed us this week!! Of course it's tiring, but man, it feels good to help others come unto Christ!! We also had a fair in town, which was really cool!! I wasn't able to get very many pictures, so you'll just have to believe me when I say it was a lot of fun. 

Ok, that was a lot, but I just want to tell you how grateful I am for this mission. I have been a missionary for over 2 months now, including my time in the MTC, and I can say this mission has changed the way I see everything. My time here in Benito has really opened my eyes to see how fortunate I really am, and how much our Heavenly Father loves His children. I am not a perfect missionary by any means, but I testify that this is the perfect gospel, we have a perfect god, and He loves us perfectly. I can't wait for another week of service, and another week of helping others learn more about His perfect love. Have an amazing week, but like always, don’t have too much fun without me!!

The first 3 photos are from Villa Ahumada and the last 3 are from Benito!!

(part of a fried cricket .. we ate most of the bag you see on the right)

On the road again!!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!! What an amazing week it has been!! I am so grateful to be a missionary!! Like a lot of the past weeks, we went to Juárez!! I know, I know, you are probably saying, "Come on Elder, when are we gonna have something new??"  WELLLLLL Guess what… 

Through hours of prayer and dedicated service, Elder García and I have two new investigators and they are so amazing!! We offered to give them a hand while they were working in their yard, and soon enough, we were sharing the message!! They loved the idea that Heavenly Father restores his gospel through prophets in every dispensation, and they were so excited to hear that Heavenly Father has restored it again in this one!! HOW AMAZING THAT??!! They wanted to learn more and so here we are, teaching and serving these amazing people!! That's the best part of missionary service, seeing those we teach be filled with excitement and a desire to learn more!! It's pretty amazing if you ask me!! 

Only one picture to share with ya this week. It's the coolest scripture case on the planet!! They even made a replica of MY tie!! HOW COOL IS THAT??!! (And don't worry about the typo with my name, I've got a new tag to put on it! Still pretty cool though if you ask me!!)

On a different note, the tamales here are the BOMB .. MMMM!! Best thing ever made!! Thanks everyone for your love and support!! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! Have an amazing week, but don't have too much fun without me!!

Round Two!!!

This week is going to sound really familiar! On Tuesday we headed to Ciudad Juárez!! That's right people, Round two!! It was awesome!! I was able to spend a lot of time studying ,which I reallllllllly needed! We also had the opportunity to keep working. Now, it wasn't with our investigators, but it was with investigators from all around the world. How was it done you might ask, wellllllllllllllllllll lets just say, Facebook is an amazing tool!! 

In one of my last emails, I talked a little bit about how social media does wonders for missionaries. THAT IS SOOOOO TRUE!! On an average day, we get about 50 investigators through facebook alone!! (Different areas, not just one. hehe) But that's pretty amazing if you ask me!! It is so amazing to know that Heavenly Father placed us on the earth at this time with these tools!! Now, I have never been a big social media guy, I used to think that it was pretty negative, but I have to say, I have been amazed at the amount of good that comes from it. It was so amazing to talk to these people and help them find the missionaries near them!! 

Now don't get me wrong, talking in person is awesome (the best part about the mission honestly), but if you ever want to feel like you made a lot of progress, work with the Facebook team for one day!! Definitely gotta hand it to the Facebook team, it's some hard work, but we couldn't do it without them!! 

Ok that's my little thang about social media, now let's just talk about the food. Who ever thought that I would go to Mexico, and have Subway almost everyday for lunch!! Of course, they find a way to make it spicy, but that's one weird looking burrito!! But I've gotta say, the food here is great!! It's nice to have some food that I know every now and then, but I'll always look forward to a Ciudad Juárez Subway Sand-rito!!

Have an amazing week, but don't have too much fun without me!!

OH I GOT A HAT!! WOOT WOOT!! 

Don't have very many pictures today, so here's some with my Amigos in Juarez!!

Oh and I can't remember if I showed you the pancake Elder Garcia made me!! If not, here it is!!