March Madness

This week was super busy.  Monday I went back to Juarez for another meeting and got to stay in a HOTEL.  It was awesome.  Needless to say I showered twice and they were the best showers of my life, hot water and a lot of it. And I also slept super well on my own queen-sized bed. And I watched TV all night! (That last one was a joke I read the scriptures all night) but the next morning I woke up bright and early to go to the meeting and there I learned a lot about how to be a better leader, and how to not be afraid of finding new people. One thing I like that the President said was "el amor siempre quita el temor" which means love will always get rid of fear. And that’s one thing I’ve been working on this week was learning how to love EVERYONE.

I got home Tuesday and we shopped for the week and then visited a convert from the area named Liz.  She is marvelous.

Wednesday-Friday we contacted, taught and enjoyed increasingly hotter weather..

Saturday we taught a new investigator we have named Alejandra and her mom America. They are super awesome and seem super duper excited about the lessions!! Later that day we had interviews with the president and I passed with flying colors.

Sunday was super cool because I had the opportunity to give my first talk in sacrament meeting since I left home!! I was super nervous but my Elder Riding said I did a good job, so I feel pretty good about it. The topic was missionary work with members, and it was a super awesome topic because the ward I’m in (Lomas) is full of people that always help!

This week was really good and I’m extremly excited for Conference weekend! Thank you all for your emails, prayers and support, everyone is a huge help. I hope you all have an awesome week!!

Love,
Elder St John

Stayed in a hotel this week. 

The sunrise in Juarez from my window.

The front of the first LDS church in Mexico.

Feeling Like Rango

SECCION HIDALGO!!!!

Just another average week in Casas Grandes. This week we basically contacted and walked and taught. But there is one quote that came to my attention this week.  It's "de cierto de cierto te digo que estamos en un desierto" (ask Katelyn what that means): but that also explains the title if any of you have seen the movie Rango. Because I feel like Rango...

It's starting to get really pretty here in some parts, spring is starting so the trees are getting leaves and there are a few orchards here that are super pretty. They are full of peach trees and super pink, and I get to see them every day. Also in seccion hidalgo, the farming area of my mission, the fields are super green and the cows are all over the place. 

I don't really have much left to tell you guys.  Sorry. This week wasn't too eventfull.. But we are working harder here and having more success! So I think your prayers and mine are being answered! I love you all and think of you all the time! I hope you all have a phenomenal week! 

Love,

Elder St John

The wagon in front of the first LDS church in Mexico. 

Beautiful Hidalgo

The beautiful desert of Casas Grandes.

I'm Not Dead

First off I would like to apologize for the tardiness of this letter. it is one day and a few hours overdue.. but its because Sunday I went to Juarez for a DL training meeting and didn't come home till yesterday at like 5:00.... so I had no time to write...

This past week was super good. I'm starting to get the hang of all the stuff I'm doing right now a little better so it's getting a little easier. Monday I gave my first district meeting and it went pretty well. I tried my best and I think it all worked out.

This Tuesday I went down to a place called LeBaron to do some interviews for some baptisms we would have that Saturday, and it was super cool! It's like a 45 minute drive and when we got there it was crazy. Remember when I said Dublan was American, well LeBaron at least triples Dublan. EVERYONE speaks English and the houses are wayyy more American. But the only difference is that LeBaron is where all the polygamists live.. So that part was a little weird.. But I got the interviews done and we left that night, got ice cream and went home. 

All the other days went pretty normal. We contact every day, by knocking doors and giving out stuff like cards or Books of Mormon. We found a few new people that could work but things are still a little slow here. But even though we are getting rejected every once and a while we also are having some success and the little success makes all the rejections worth it. 

Sunday I left for Ciudad Juarez at like 11:00 o'clock by bus and got there at like 4:00 so that was pretty good! I just went to the mission offices and ate a salad then went on divisions with the assistants for the night. While i was there we found a family in their area and they gave us steak and were super nice and it gave me hope for the people here. Then we woke up Monday morning bright and early to go to the meeting at 8:00 a.m. The meeting was super good. We learned the 10 traits of a perfect missionary but the one I liked the most was where it said that we have to be social and that when we sent our papers in it was us agreeing to be social. After the meeting I went back to Casas Grandes by bus.. Again for 4 more hours... and got back at 5:00 and had my second district meeting, and that one was great! I basically just passed all the information that I got from the meeting earlier but it worked out pretty well.. 

Later Monday night we went with the sisters in my district to help them teach a lesson. This lession was cool because the girl we taught only spoke English and was from New Mexico. We taught her the gospel and it was really special. I highly reccomend you guys study it and memorize the 5 points of the gospel, because it really is perfect and will help you guys with everything. 

I'm so grateful for all you guys do and I hope you guys are all doing great! I love you all so much. 

Love,

Elder St John

The Mission of Elder St John Chapter 3

A picture of me and Elder Riding.

So basically everything is new now... I'm back in Casas Grandes with dirt roads, farms and the beautiful desert air.  Also, if you haven't heard the hymn "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd" #221, you should listen to it because it's my theme song for this area, especially the second to last line. And also, I don't really need to write more about what I've done this week because the second to last line basically describes the whole week.

My new companion is awesome! We get along super well, he has 15 months in his mission and speaks super good Spanish and is super freindly and helps a ton with contacting. Also, he knows the area so he is a huge help. 

The area is great, but it's kind of a desert.. literally and figuratively. Because right now it's a desert of investigators.. We get rejected a lot here when we contact, but it's also weird because the people we contact say no but we have people coming up to us and almost contacting us in a way.. So all our new investigators are coming to us.. 

Umm it has been cold this week but it looks like it's starting to get warmer which is good and bad because I hear the summers here are very, very hot. So I will melt and come home in a puddle... So I'm not too excited that it's starting to get hotter... 

Actually having responsability is pretty cool but stressful, because I have a lot of stuff to worry about.. But I'm getting better and working harder to get better. I'm glad for the oppurtunity to grow and learn and that's about it for the week. I love you all a lot! 

Love, 

Elder St John

The coolest thing that happened this week was when we had our Stake Conference this Sunday for my new stake in Dublan. The President came and he shared the conversion story of Clara to everyone and it was super cool, and Clara was baptized last Saturday. It was a really cool story and because I came in kind of in the middle. 

A Picture of Blacky, a dog who follows us every day. All day.

A picture of the Church of Section Hildalgo (which is abandon).

"Ciudad Juares es Numero 1" (por Juan Gabriel)

So the title of this email describes my feelings towards Juarez. I love this place. Just like Juan Gabriel said in his hit song, Juarez really is la frontera mas fabulosa y bella del muuunndo. I´ve only been here for 6 short weeks and I love it here. Even though I hear gun shots and police at night, I've never felt safer as a servant of the Lord. 

But as much as I love Juarez, the president thinks it's time for me to go. Today is the last day of the cycle and I have transfers. But you guys will be so proud of me. Because remember Dublan, the place of my dreams when I was in Casas Grandes? Well you'll never guess it but I'M GOING TO DUBLAN!! And that's not even the cool part. I'M GOING TO BE A SENOR COMPANION FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. And that's still not the cool part. The cool part is I'M GOING TO BE A DISTRICT LEADER. So yeah that's about all the big news. I'm going to Dublan as District Leader, so I'm stoked. Even though I'm super stressed because I haven't even been a senior companion yet... But whatever. I know that the Lord called me for this so he will help me. My new companions name is Elder Riding and he is from Payson, Utah. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa St. John know him. But I'm super excited to meet him but super sad to leave Frontera 3 (my old area) and especially Elder Mellado. He is the best. 

This week was pretty normal. Sorry if I scared you about the gun shot stuff but I thought it would be fine because I'm going to like the safest place in my mission and I will be fine. But keep me in your prayers so that I can be a good leader and won't lose all my hair from stress.. because I think I'm already going bald... But I'm in love with this work and I love being a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Love you all and I wish you the best week this week.

Love, 

Elder San Juan