Elder Fox July 21, 2008

Hello HelloThis week went alot better all around. I got a haircut on Monday. For those of you who didnt hear… I bought a Dr. Pepper on Monday also when we were buying our Groceries for the week and i couldnt wait to get outside to drink it because i was just so stoked to open that thing up and put the heavenly sensacional taste into my mouth. Yeah it exploded on me and let just say i looked like i had dove into a pool of Dr. Pepper.

We usually have changes every 6 weeks but President decided to have them this week out of nowhere and Elder Knowlden in my distrist left to Monclava and Elder Munton came in his spot. Im kinda excited to work with him in my District, he looks like a hard worker!

We taught a lady named Neli all week long and she was like GOLD!! For real, when i contacted her she really didnt want to talk to us but accepted to listen one day and ever since she read one chapter of the Book of Mormon she was ready to get baptized! We had her Bautismal date set for the 27 of July. Then on Thursday we taught the Law of Chastity and it turned out that she wasnt married and still needs to get a divorce!! :( I was so sad! Its almost imposible to get a divorce here in mexico i swear so im pretty sure we will not be baptising her this next week.

I had some bad problems with my bike this week. My back rim is completly stopped working and wouldnt turn at all. I got that fixed and then that day the crank stopped working so right now i am out of a bike. The lady at Walmart in Monclova was pretty dishonest when she said that the bike i was going to buy was an awesome brand. Either that or she didnt know anything about bikes…. I dont think she knew anything about bikes.

This week we found a lady that wasnt really interested but some way or another i convenced her to listen to us. She didnt pay attention at all in the lesson and about 5 minutes before we ended her 10 year old son walked in to listen to us also. We decided to teach him how to pray. Alter teaching him the 4 steps to prayer we had him say the closing prayer and it was absolutly perfect! His mom was so proud of him and amazed at how well and quick we could teach him to do something especially something that had to do with the Gospel. She oponed her heart right up and said that we could come back anytime we wanted too. Thank you mother for your hint 6 months ago on using the little kids to get to the hearts of the parents because it really does work!

My companion borrowed an arubix cube from one of our investigators this week and in 2 days he taught me how to do the 5 steps to do it. I can officially say that i can do the arubix cube now!!

Francisco (our recent convert) taught with us twice this week and drove us around 3 times to alot of our visits! He seriously is so awesome and has helped us out a ton with the mission work here in Hidalgo. It was awesome to see him ask our investigaters… Is there anything we can do to help you… Before we left, just like we would ask him a month ago when we taught him. He really loves helping people and it makes me more happier than anything to see our goog examples rubbing off on him. He couldnt come to church this week but next week we are preparing him to bless the Sacrament. He is excited and wants to memorize the prayers.

We had an open house on Saturday that we had been planning for for 2 weeks for anyone in town who wanted to come and see what the church was like. Yeah… no one came except for some members. I pretty sure it was just lack of planning and we didnt Start soon enough so that people knew. Maybe we will try it again in the near future.

We taught a guy named osvaraldo this week and he is really cool. After the 2nd lesson we asked him if he thought that the Book of Mormon was true and he said that he was sure. So we asked him if he thought that Joseph Smith is a prophet and he said yes again. Then we asked him if he would be baptized since he add such a strong conviction that all of this was true and he wouldnt accpet it!! I could go on and on with everything that i taught him that night to try and help him understand why he had to do it but he wouldnt budge. We will see what happens with him this coming week. Me and my comp will make some good plans.

Rene was the only investigater that came to church with us on Sunday. He liked it alot and said he would like to come back next Sunday. We talked to him about baptism there in the church but didnt end up leaving with a batismal date. We will work hard with him this week and maybe we can come out with a baptism next Sunday. Well thats about all that went on this week for Elder Fox. Hope all is well in good ol USA. Im staying plenty busy with all of my callings! Love YALL!Elder Fox

Elder Fox June 30, 2008

Hello HelloKinda crazy im writing again to tell yall about another week. Last pday i busted out the baseball glove for the first time in about a year and played some catch with my companion.. he used a backpack to catch the ball when i threw it to him haha. My arm is pretty out of shape and is what i was expecting since its been so long since ive even thrown anything more than 10 feet.

We had transfers on Monday night but it really wasnt transfers because nobody got transfered... everyone in my district stayed in their same spots. We got a new Zone Leader... Elder Ramsey (my brother from the MTC) hes a stud!

We didnt get alot of food from the members this week. Infact it was worst than last week! Im not sure whats going on but we will be getting it all figured out for sure. The lords servants have to eat!

Elder Olivas kinda hinted on it in the sunday school class.We did some community service on saturday morning with the branch. All of us wore sweet shirts that said ¨mormon hands that help¨. The mayor sent us out and We went from house to house going in the peoples backyard and checking to see all of the stuff where mosquitos usually are like old tires, tiny pools of water, trash, etc. We wrote down the everything and then this next week some other people are going to come by their houses and clean it all up. There is a sickness called Dengue here in this part of Mexico that is pretty horrible and is sometime fatal after the 3rd time you get it. So what we were doing was trying to reduce it.

Saturday night me and my companion went for a big water jug to stock up for the week since we were completely out. but this time we had to go on bikes since it was kinda late. It was my companions turn to carry it. He had it on his shoulders and it almost fell off so he took his other hand off of his handle bars to reajust it onto his shoulder... while it the process of adjusting it he lost control of his bike and flipped face first into the pavement!! The jug of water went flying into the middle of the street and his bike landed on top of him. It was NUTS!! i felt so bad for him cuz we were both already tired and sore from a days work and then that happened. He wasnt hurt too bad and toughed it out. The funny thing was, the Branch pres. just got done telling us to be careful on our bikes... haha im pretty sure he is the one that Ginxed us!!!

The highlight of the week was with on of our investigators named Francisco. I think i told you about him last week. He week to church and all last week and said he was willing to be baptized. So this week was pretty much dedicated to him to make sure that everything worked out. We taught him every single day of the week and by friday he was ready to be interviewed. On Tuesday we asked him why he didnt pray about Joesph Smith when we had asked him to the night before.Then he gave the best excuse i have ever heard any of my investigators say... he said ¨why do i need to pray when i already know that its true?¨ We helped him understand that it is just important to have a relationship with your Father in Heaven. He completed 7 chapters in the Book of Mormon that we left him for ¨homework¨. Sunday was his baptism and this time he showed up by himself in his white shirt and tie with his shoes all pollished and everything! He was ready to go! He loved the church services and afterwards at 2:00 we baptized him. It was a really spiritual baptism and enjoyed every second of it. He should be a great help to this small Branch here in Hidalgo.

Later in the afternoon we stopped by his house to get a drink while we were contacting and he shared more of his feelings with us there in his house. He was so excited, happy, and in peace with the choice that he had made and completely grateful for us and the blessings that we had brought into his life. He called us ¨padrinos¨ his Godparents. He really wanted us to know how he felt towards us but his words couldnt completly describe it. He said all that is left now is to press foward. He is looking forward to us coming back this coming week and teaching him more.Thats about it for the week!

This coming week i will complete ONE YEAR!! WHAT!!?? haha feels like 1 semester :) Thanks for all your support everyone! Loves from the Red, White, and Green!!!Elder Fox**

Elder Fox June 23, 2008

Hola Todas!!Just another normal week. I did recieve the Birthday package that you guys sent Thank you. Thank you Grandma Fox of the Letter.

The other missionaries here in Hidalgo have been struggling for a while now and im just not sure what they have been doing wrong in their area to not have any results this 5 weeks. So on Tuesday we did Divisions and i went over to thier area to see what i could do to get their area a little more up and running. We found alot of new investigators and committed one of them to come to church with us. I taught pretty much everything i know about missionary work to Elder Knowlden (the senor companion) hopefully we can see some results of it soon.

None of the members here with the ones that we DO have dont like to feed us food. With the exception of 3 days this week we ate Roman Noodles and Water for lunch. It was pretty frustrating but we will get something worked out with the members so that they can give us more food... Im mean for real! We are in Mexico... Who DOESNT have at least a pot of beans to cook us at least! haha.

On Thursday night we contacted a lady in the street on the way to one of our appoinments. She was really happy and just looked like a perfect prospect for a new investigator. When we went to shake her hand she grabbed our hands and pulled us closer to give us a kiss on the cheek (which is the normal way to present yourself to someone you know here in Mexico) But i had never had someone really do it to me before! haha i forced myself off of her and we soon found out that she was a little crazy and the moment. She had been drinking and was headed back to her house. Me and my comp had a good laugh about it.

Saturday was the Branch temple Day!! We left here at 10:30 and got there at about 12. We took some sweet pictures of the temple and spent about 5 hours doing temple work. It was awesome! It felt like we were on vacation but we really werent... Only just doing missionary work for the dead :) We also got to see the sealing of a couple in our Branch which was a way awesome experience!! Not too long for Elder Fox!!!! haha maybe.....

The highlight of our week was with an investigator that we found on Thursday afternoon named Fransico. He didnt have time to talk when we contacted him but when we went back to visit him on Friday and teach him we soon found out that he would be one of the best investigators we have had here so far in Hidalgo. He told us about how his whole life his family had been members of the church and how he had supported all of them because he new it was the best thing for them. He had never gotten baptized becuase he had always had to work on sundays and never had anytime at all. He raised an awesome family and even sent his son off on a mission. When his son left for his mission he split up with his wife and kinda started his own life here in Hidalgo away from the family he had created in Monterrey. He hasnt seen his son for 4 years since he left and he didnt know if he was still serving or if he stayed in the United States where he served or what... When we contacted him he didnt tell us in the moment but thought that i was his son because i looked just like him or something. He is still searching for his son and we are teaching him right now so that when he meets him he will have the awesome news to tell him that he is a member of the church. Sunday morning we rode our bikes to his house to go with him to church, he was ready 40 minutes early and was dressed up all nice and everything! He told us to load the bikes into the back of his little tiny car and we rode to the church. He even helped us go find other investigators to come to church. He loved everything about the church and got really involved with the ward members, especially in Priestood Meeting. We showed him the baptismal font and asked him if he would be baptized when we had him prepared and he agreed with a huge smile on his face! After all of the meetings were over and he was about to leave i asked him how he like church. Ofcourse he said he loved in but the only thing that he was sorry about was that he wore a Blue shirt instead of a white shirt and tie... haha i told him not to worry about it and that it wasnt a huge deal and that he would have plenty more opportunities to wear his white shirt and tie on sundays to church :) This coming week will be dedicated to getting him progressing as much as possible.

Ive learned a ton this week and more than anything i learned how to listen and follow those thoughts and promptings of the spirit that guide us everyday of our lives. But this week it hit me harder than ever before about how we really are guided and can recieve revelation. If God is going to reveal anything to anyone its going to be to those who are working for him in his vinard to carry out his purpose or to bring to pass the imortality and eternal life of man. So many times we recieve revelation but we just dont act according to what is given to us. This week we walked past Fransicos house 3 times... It was not until the 3rd time that i decided to act upon the thought that was given to me to knock on his door. God really does work though small and simple means and it is though us that he carries out his purposes. Hope everyone has an amazing week!Elder Fox

Elder Fox June 16, 2008

Hola! Well i finally found a map that is halfway decent to find some streets in this town. We will probably be working a little more effectivly from here on out in Hidalgo!

For my birthday we didnt have anywhere to eat so we just bought and made some Mac and cheese with hotdogs and i made myself a banana chocolate milkshake. I was kinda hoping i would get a cake to eat (like the INDIAN cake i got for my 19th) but since we didnt eat at a members house i was kinda out of luck on that one. BUT THEN... 2 hours later we taught one of our investigators (Sorina) after we taught her she brought out Cake and Coke! haha i did eat tell her that it was my birthday and when i did it just made her pretty happy. That night the other Elders of Hidalgo came over to the house with Ding Dong cup cakes and we stuck 20 matches in them and Elder Olivas sang happy birthday to me in the Spanish version. They were awesome!

We had mission conference on Wednesday and i learned alot about how we should always be using out time wisely and just staying active. More than anything i set some new goals to change the way i contact instead of doing it the same way every time. I started contacting this week with the Book of Mormon.

There are these popsicle thinyies that are like otter pops but fatter and shorter called Gelentines... they are seriously so good! Im going to miss them when i have to leave Mexico. For now im just going to take advantage of them... me and my comp are talking about buying them in the bulk this week. 50 of them things!!! which should last us about 2 weeks.

The missionary couple that went to Texas bought our Sobes and gave them to us this week!! Holy Gageebies were them things good! haha For real i think that amazing sensation to my tounge should get me though another year away from the USA :)

The highlight of the week was definately when we got to give a little bit of service to one of our investigators... Her name is Santos. We gave her one of the finding faith in Christ videos at the start of the week and after 2 lessons didnt want anything more to do with us or the church. 2 days after that we walked past her house and she called us over because she couldnt get her washing machine into her house and knew that we were the only way that she was going to get it in there. We were happy to help her and carried that washing machine into her house like it was floating on angels wings... haha ok too far, but we gotter in there. We invited her to church that again and she was a little more willing to go but still unsure if she was going to do it (which really just means no) but i was wrong... Sunday her and her daughter showed up to church with their kids without us having to go get them! It was awesome! and im blaming it on the service that we did for her. Yes, we will be looking for service every week now!

We didnt have a ton of people to take to church but sunday morning we just randomly decieded to go see is Miguel (one of our contacts, we hadnt even taught yet) would come to church with us... We had to knock on his door hard enough to wake him up and then he came out and we convinced him to come with us for just on hour. He just had to wash his face and change so we waited outside for him and when he came back outside and said he was ready to go, he hadnt really changed anything other than he now had a big wet spot on his shirt right below his chin which im pretty sure it was because he was having a bad hangover and cleaned up the barf off of his shirt... i thought it was kinda funny until he almost barffed again when we rode with him to church in his little tinny red truck, haha He made it though church ok and is excited to learn more next week... I do know for sure that we will be teaching him lesson 4 with the Word of Wisdom on Wednesday. I spoke in sacrament meeting on the Restoration which turning out well without any planning on that one since i teach it EVERY SINGLE DAY! It was a pretty easy talk to prepare for. All in all this week turned out great with 4 investigators in church, and we will be working hard this coming week to keep them progressing.

I got a quote for you all.... I love my father, and the memory of his noble deeds rests with ponderous weight upon my mind, and many of his kind and parental words to me are written upon the tablet of my heart. -Joesph Smith-Have an awesome week! Love you all! Elder Fox**

Elder Fox June 2, 2008

Alrighty Alrighty dont worry Elder Fox isnt poor anymore. We finally got a little bit of money to buy some normal food instead of just pure oatmeal. Last week i just got the information that my converts in Monclova just recieved callings in the ward and are progressing increadibly fast! I was more than happy to hear the news! They are amazing!

My bike seat broke this week so we did alot of walking, and then after three days we decided to just make a seat (we just tied a pillow over the metal frame of the old seat) haha it worked alright for about 10 minutes, no worries we found a good seat now, and my behind is being taken care of :)

There is a train that runs though town about twice a day so me and my comp this week decided to go a smash pesos! It worked really good and now i got some sweet suveniers to remind me of Hidalgo. I might make a few more and send them home to you guys.

Wednesday i had an awesome study session in the morning and learned a ton! Not nesesarily something new, but just a better understanding of how we are all children of God. My testimony has truely become stonger and has made a big change for me in my life and in my mission. I now have increased the power, purpose, and meaning ofmy prayers, i view others and the world around me differently, and i have felt a stronger love for my Heavenly Father and better understand the love he has for me and every single one of his children. I can honestly say that this has been a big turning point to me in my mission and even eternal progress.

I like the quote that says... Our entire perspective of ourselves, our worth, and what we can make of our lives is altered for good when we come to understand that we are Gods children and can become like him.

Friday we went on splits with the Zone leaders because one of them had to come to Hidalgo and interview Bety for her baptism on Sunday. So i was with Elder Torrantera all day long in his area... I have never walked so much in my life and after that day my body was completly DONE FOR!! I could not move by 9:00. That night i was relying on the promise made to the faithfull priestood holders of the church found in D and C 84:33, The RENEWING of our bodies! Lets just say on Saturday morning my testimony grew greatly in that perspecive also. The same night we bought Campachanas (HugE soft tacos) and i chopped all of my hair off.

The church is starting another comercial to give out DVD called... FInding faith in Chirst... its going to be a big help for us this month to find alot of new people to teach.

Sunday was the baptism of Bety Florez. We had been preparing her all week for it and it turned our awesome!! She is amazing and i have learned alot from her also. She is good at listening and acting according to the good feelings that come into her heart and mind. One of our investigators came to church with us this week (Julian) He was also at the baptism of Bety and we talked with him after and had him committed to baptism this next sunday.

The work here in Mexico is moving so fast it blows me away! Im loving every minute of it and look forward to all of the growing experiences that come my way. Love you all thanks for all of the support! Until next week, youll be in my prayers!Elder Fox

Elder Fox May 26, 2008

Ok so im officially poor... Yeah im not sure where all the money went but its just not there (dont worry mom and dad, the debit card still has money just practicing a little self dissapline). So all that we bought for this week to eat was a bag of oats, sugar, and water. Thank goodness we have a microwave to warm up it all up fast. That was our breakfast and dinner for the whole week, except yesterday night (sunday) when we took the sacrament bread home and ate it.

we changed houses at the start of the week. We were living with 2 other elders that are here in Hidalgo also. Now we do have a little more peace at night since it was 3 americans! Yeah we couldnt stop talking, in a way it was good though since ive lost alot of english vocab, i got some practice in.

Ive done alot more walking in this area than i have done in the past and im not used to it since i have always been on my bike. Ive got two good shinning blisters on both of my feet and i just cant wait until the calus over so i can stop walking like a crazy duck. Ive learned alot about when to open your mouth.

We started a fast as a district on Thursday which went really well. Me and my companion didnt have time to start it in the house so we found a patch of brush off to the side of the rode and did it there right in the dirt leaves and rocks, we ended it there also. We taught a young mother this week named Bety who had gone to church about 4 times but was only interested because her kids liked to go and participate. We worked with her alot this week and put some awesome goals with her to learn and start with her conversion process. Long story short, she is excited to be baptized this 1st of June! More than anything i have learned from this experience that we dont make the change in their lives, we just push them into the circle of conversion where God can get ahold of them and then he makes the change.

Me and my companion were riding down the highway on Friday (i was pedaling and he was on the back pegs) a bunch of semi trucks starting coming towards us and i totally had a little kid revelation... I told my companion in that same moment ¨hey lets get them to honk their horns!¨ So right as they went by we stuck our arms up in the air in the square form and had the whole arm motion going on up and down to try and see if they would do it. and they DID!! haha it was AWESOME! I totally felt like i was 5 years old again! I seriously think that was one of the highlights of my mission so far haha.

Its kinda different having an american as your companion, im not really used to it. But its also way cool! We talk all the time and i really do enjoy it because we joke around all the time and we just understand each other better. He is really humble and makes me want to be better. I help him a ton with Spanish and he helps me with English haha. Until next week thats all i got. Thanks for everything! Elder Fox**

Elder Fox - 19 May 2008

Hola Everyone!

Elder Fox cut his hair again... Yes it was way long. Monday night we got transfer phone calls and since our zone leader didnt have a companion he had to stay with us which ment we got to see first hand whereeveryone was getting transfered too. It seriously is always like Christmas time. I had no intentions of leaving Obreas Monclova since i only had one change. While Elder Torrez was writing down all of the names and areas from the phone i was watching what he was writing down. He got to about the fifth person and i saw him write my name down!! haha then next to my name he wrote Hidalgo (the new area) and then next to that he wrote L/D which means District Leader!!!! haha yeah i about passed out and fell out of my chair! I didnt even have time to soak up all of my senor compaion experiences, they just kicked me in the behind and moved me right up to District Leader. I think i was ready for it though because it didnt make me nervous at all. That same night i heard some wierd sound in the kitchen and went to see what it was, when i arrived in the kitchen there was the biggest bee i have ever seen in my entire life flying in the air! It scared the crap out of me. I called over Elder Torrez and Elder Mendoza to come and look when they came it the bee flew beside as and started to attack us!!!! haha it was like world war 3 mission house style! It was out hand so i decided to take it to the next level. I grabbed a can of Raid (Bug killer spray) and lit a match and then toasted that bee to charcle! the first time it just burnt of his wings, it took about two or three times to kill him! it was pretty intense. The pictures and video dont do justice to what we went though. Tuesday morning i took a bus to Monterrey to meet my new companion and ride to my area. Elder Niebergall is my new companion. He is from Rosavelt Utah, which is crazy because i probably drove by his house like a million times going back and forth from collage in colorado last year. He has 3 months in the mission and his spanish is a little rough but its alright because i totally remember how i was 8 months ago! Im helping him alot. My new area is called Hidalgo which is a little tiny tiny tiny town about and hour north of Monterrey. they dont have bikes in this area, so i was glad that i brought mine. We just bought pegs and my companion rode around on the back of the bike all week. Yup more exersize for my legs! There is a ton of trees in my area and i really do like it. Its small but there is alot of potential here. Friday was my first baptismal interview for one of the Zone Leaders...Pretty Crazy! It rained all day that day and didnt stop at all. We spent most of the time walking and yes i was soaked form head to toe!! Sunday was a good stressful day again trying to get people to church and a baptism set up. My companion and his old companion had been teaching a little kid a couple of weeks ago but didnt want to get baptized. So i tryed to give it a try and did everything i could and i dont know exactly what i did right but it worked and we baptized him on sunday after church. (we have a portable baptismal font which is pretty sweet haha). Hidalgo doesnt have a ward, its a branch and there is only about 33 active members that go every week, which is pretty rough since mission work is so much easlier with alot of member especially when they have cars and none of them do! Its all good there is just a lot of work to be done here to get this Branch growing. I gave a talk in church again. I didnt have much time to prepare so i used the talk i gave last week in Obreras on Obedience. We take care of the sacrament every week, Im am the Young men and young womens sunday school teacher and also the president of the Elders Quorum! With that and being a district leader while trying to take care of my own area i will be busy enough to not slow down for the rest of my mission! Woooo!! Bring on the STRESS!!! Thats about it for the week. Life is awesome dont forget it!

Elder Fox

Elder Fox - May 4, 2008

So this week started out a little stressful... Monday night i got a call from the Secretary in the mission offices telling me that Alma Mendoza (one of our baptism´s last sunday) had already been baptized when she was really young. Before we interview Alma last week, she told me that she might be a member so i told her that we would find out for sure. The sister in the offices put her name in wrong when she investigated it, so obviously it came back that she wasnt a member. So we went ahead and baptized her on sunday. Since she was a member and you can only baptize someone once, it didnt count. Which ment that i only had 4 confirmations and couldnt go to the temple on wednesday. I was felt like Crap! but then remembered that we still had to confirm Ricardo ( the little kid that we baptized 3 weeks ago) So monday night we hurried home for the District meeting and went and sat in front of his house until he got home so that we could confirm him . Talk about pushing it to the last minute! I swear that should be my middle name here in the mission! All in all it all worked out so that we finished the monthly goal of 5 confirmations. Which mean yes i still got to go to the temple on wednsday! It was an awesome get away for the day in Monterrey. We at with all the Zone leaders at the Zone leader conference before our session which which made me feel pretty special cuz not everyone gets to do that. We spent alot of time and money ridin around in Taxis to get to where we needed to go so i did get to see alot of pretty sweet sites at night. The temple was awesome and gave me an extra spritual boost to start again this week. The last time i went to the temple was 8 months ago in Provo while we were in the MTC. I bought the Mendoza Family a triple combination at the book store beside the temple. I wrote my testimony in it and gave it to them of Friday with some of my favorite scriptures that i had marked for them to read. They loved it, and Alma wanted so bad to give me a hug, but i told her she couldn´t. She was mad and said,... why does it matter!?.... I kindly explained to her and she understood, but pretty much made me promise her that i would come back after the mission so that i can give her a hug.My companion takes alot of things i say a little too seriously so i decided to play a joke on him friday night haha. After we had turned out the lights i told him that i thought i had seen a Cucaracha (cockcroach) that was crawling up the side of his bed. haha he spent 15 minutes tearing apart his bed looking for one. haha. Yes he forgave me and we both laughed afterwards.On saturday we found and taught a guy whos name was ELDER!! How sweet is that!? Yeah i was pretty stoked too! Im pretty sure not every single elder in the mission finds someone whos first name is Elder... He even had it tatooed onto his leg, like i do on my chest!......... ok that sounded bad..... Its really just my name tag thats on my CHEST everyday haha.Sunday was another good one. Not because we had a ton of baptisms but because we finally got enough confidence with the Son of Alma Mendoza, so he came to church with us. We should him the baptismal font and excepted his baptismal date for this next sunday, the 11th. Now we just need to get the dad involved. We cant find anytime to teach him because of his work sceduale but hopefully something will work out soon.After church we starting contacting people in the street to finish our 100 contacts for the week. After i finished talking with someone in the street i got on my bike to ride over to my companion who was also contacting someone in the street. We i spread my legs to get on my bike i totally ripped the back seam of my pants!! haha yeah im not going to lie i was pretty embarresed. And it was the 3 pare of pants that i have ripped! Dont worry ya´ll im not really fat, my pants have just gotten really worn out from all of that hard mission work ya know :)Well thats about it for the week... Happy Mothers day to all this coming sunday!Elder Fox*

Elder Fox - May 4, 2008

So this week started out a little stressful... Monday night i got a call from the Secretary in the mission offices telling me that Alma Mendoza (one of our baptism´s last sunday) had already been baptized when she was really young. Before we interview Alma last week, she told me that she might be a member so i told her that we would find out for sure. The sister in the offices put her name in wrong when she investigated it, so obviously it came back that she wasnt a member. So we went ahead and baptized her on sunday. Since she was a member and you can only baptize someone once, it didnt count. Which ment that i only had 4 confirmations and couldnt go to the temple on wednesday. I was felt like Crap! but then remembered that we still had to confirm Ricardo ( the little kid that we baptized 3 weeks ago) So monday night we hurried home for the District meeting and went and sat in front of his house until he got home so that we could confirm him . Talk about pushing it to the last minute! I swear that should be my middle name here in the mission! All in all it all worked out so that we finished the monthly goal of 5 confirmations. Which mean yes i still got to go to the temple on wednsday! It was an awesome get away for the day in Monterrey. We at with all the Zone leaders at the Zone leader conference before our session which which made me feel pretty special cuz not everyone gets to do that. We spent alot of time and money ridin around in Taxis to get to where we needed to go so i did get to see alot of pretty sweet sites at night. The temple was awesome and gave me an extra spritual boost to start again this week. The last time i went to the temple was 8 months ago in Provo while we were in the MTC. I bought the Mendoza Family a triple combination at the book store beside the temple. I wrote my testimony in it and gave it to them of Friday with some of my favorite scriptures that i had marked for them to read. They loved it, and Alma wanted so bad to give me a hug, but i told her she couldn´t. She was mad and said,... why does it matter!?.... I kindly explained to her and she understood, but pretty much made me promise her that i would come back after the mission so that i can give her a hug.My companion takes alot of things i say a little too seriously so i decided to play a joke on him friday night haha. After we had turned out the lights i told him that i thought i had seen a Cucaracha (cockcroach) that was crawling up the side of his bed. haha he spent 15 minutes tearing apart his bed looking for one. haha. Yes he forgave me and we both laughed afterwards.On saturday we found and taught a guy whos name was ELDER!! How sweet is that!? Yeah i was pretty stoked too! Im pretty sure not every single elder in the mission finds someone whos first name is Elder... He even had it tatooed onto his leg, like i do on my chest!......... ok that sounded bad..... Its really just my name tag thats on my CHEST everyday haha.Sunday was another good one. Not because we had a ton of baptisms but because we finally got enough confidence with the Son of Alma Mendoza, so he came to church with us. We should him the baptismal font and excepted his baptismal date for this next sunday, the 11th. Now we just need to get the dad involved. We cant find anytime to teach him because of his work sceduale but hopefully something will work out soon.After church we starting contacting people in the street to finish our 100 contacts for the week. After i finished talking with someone in the street i got on my bike to ride over to my companion who was also contacting someone in the street. We i spread my legs to get on my bike i totally ripped the back seam of my pants!! haha yeah im not going to lie i was pretty embarresed. And it was the 3 pare of pants that i have ripped! Dont worry ya´ll im not really fat, my pants have just gotten really worn out from all of that hard mission work ya know :)Well thats about it for the week... Happy Mothers day to all this coming sunday!Elder Fox*

Elder Fox - 28 April 2008

Hellooo America!

We did some serious cleaning this week on the cave (our house) it was what i would call a little bit out of missionary spirit. Yes i did send that picture last week to show you how dirty it was before we cleaned it. I learned how to play a hymn on the piano last pday since we had a bunch of time to do nothing. Ive never had the patience with the piano and my mother can attest to that but i guess i have found nothing better to do on Pdays now. We rode past a little league ball park and i saw a bunch of kids practicing as a team. All of them were about 10 years old and it brought back some awesome memories of playing baseball with Matt Tingey. Of course i had to stop and watch them practice with the little bit of spare time that we did have. I want so bad to go out and practice with them and teach them in my missionary clothes and all but just couldn't bring myself to do it ha ha. Friday was Day of the Kids. They have a holiday for EVERYTHING I swear! Day of the teachers, day of workers, day of food, day of the dead, day of the paved roads, day of the shade, OK half of those i just made up but they really do have a ton! The Bishop planned a huge party for the ward and we all out when he invited an entertainer for the kids with music, costumes, games and all. It was kinda fun to watch them. The weekend cooled down a whole bunch which was good because i have been tired of the Blazing hot sun, but also bad since we have ran out of Gas to run our boiler so i have to shower in freezing cold water.

Our goal every month is 5 baptisms and confirmations so that we can go to the temple in Monterrey. This week we needed just 2 to complete it. We already had 2 baptisms planned since last week and they were pretty firm. But we still needed one more person because Ricardo, the little kid that we baptized last week, went out of town so we couldn't confirm him this week. We pretty much needed a miracle. My companion remembered of a lady named Maria that had wanted to be baptized 2 months ago but left town and hadn't returned so that they could baptize her. We decided to go knock on her door and see if she was home. Yes she was home and yes, she was the miracle of the week for us! She had had problems with smoking and had quit while away from home. We taught lesson 1 and 3 and she knew it was all true. In 5 days we had found her, taught her, baptized her, and confirmed her a member of the church. She pretty was ready when we got to her house, and was what we had been praying for all week. Along with her we baptized Alma, and Ampado (the mother and sister) of Alejandra who we baptized last week. We confirmed all 4 in sacrament meeting. Which means TEMPLE here i come! It feels awesome to have finally completed the monthly goal for the first time on the mission. What feels even more amazing is that this family has truly been converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They will be faithful members for this ward and a wonderful new help to the future missionaries! Alma, the mother, shared her deep feelings to me and my companion this week about how much we have changed the life of her and her family. How the feeling in her house has turned completely around, their lives are more happy, they understand their purpose in life and how important it is to be one as a family and just simply obey the councils of the prophets who lived, live, and will live, and lead and guide us in the future. She cried and explained that Elder Fox and Elder Mendoza are ANGELS who have been sent to us.

My testimony has grown so much from this family and i know i will never be the same missionary again because of their conversation. She already wants me to return after my mission and visit them.

We still are working on the Dad and son but its hard to find them because of their work hours. I LOVE THIS WORK! My joy is full and cant wait to start a fresh new week with more amazing experiences in the mission field. Don't be afraid to open your mouth and invite someone to come unto Christ.
Elder Fox

Elder Fox - 21 April 2008

Alrighty, I'm not going to lie. I don't like typing a novel every week. I'll do my best to tell you about my awesome week with the patience that I do have write now. (ha!ha!)Last Monday we played Basketball as a district and I'm sad to say that I have lost all of my skills that I gained in the MTC from playing everyday. This week was really hot outside... it got up to 105 degrees 2 of the days. Pretty difficult to work in and I'm not too excited because its just starting and they say that in the heat of the summer it gets up to 115 here in Monclova.

I hope them trees don't die so that they can give me some kind of shade.

The highlight of the week was with an investigator named Alejandra and her family. I have never seen someone so excited to learn about the gospel before. Since lesson 1 last week Alejandra has progressed like
crazy! She read up until 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, memorized the Relief Society Theme, and asked where she could buy a hymn boo? I think we will just give her one as a gift in the near future. She was incredibly excited to be baptized this SundAY. She is a larger lady and when we told her that we didnt have baptismal clothing that fit her she told us not to worry about it and went and bought her own. On Friday night they invited us to dinner to celebrate her baptism. The lord truly has prepared this person to hear the gospel message! Her life has completely changed around in 2 weeks. She told us that most likely this week should would finish the Book of Mormon! Oh and don't worry! she hasn't even been confirmed yet and has already paid her tithing. She is Awesome!! She showed us a lot of gratitude this past week for what we have done for her and the happiness that we have brought into her life has also changed ME. Sunday is called the Day of Rest.... haha...uh... Not for us missionaries!! Its the most stressful day of the week for sure! Because all of the work that you do during the week is so that you can have a successful Sunday with investigators in church, baptisms, and confirmations. We had it all this week!!! Including a 12 hour notice on Saturday night from the bishop that we would be speaking on Sunday morning during sacrament meeting. Man! Talk about stress. We only had one car to take all of our investigators to church so we had to make a few trips. Brenda (baptism last week) wasn't ready when we got to her house to pick her up for her confirmation, so we had to wait a little and I was sure that we weren't going to make it to church on time to confirm her. When we arrived at the chapel they had just got done passing the sacrament and in the same moment that the bishop stood up to announce the program, I walked in the door with Brenda and signaled to the bishop from the back of the chapel that we would be confirming her. MAN talk about timing!! The bishop was a little confused but announced it. Without even finding a seat, me and Elder Mendoza walked up to the stand and confirmed her a member of the church. I performed the ordinance which was the first time in my life and was an awesome experience! I gave a 15 minute talk on Examples to Others as members of the church. My Spanish has gotten 20 times better since I've been here in Monclova. I feel blessed. We had 2 Baptisms after church: Ricardo (10 years old) and Alejandra.What an amazing day and it all worked out! The power of prayer works and is truly the key to missionary work for me right now. I have feltguided by the spirit in many situations this week and have understood the importance of being worthy of the spirit. I love this work! And I'm grateful I still have 14 months to soak it all up! Love ya all!!

Elder Fox