El Solo Gringo

A young boy in the ward was baptized and after we had cake.

This week was pretty good! not too much happened but it was good! Spanish still is a little hard and I have forgotten what good English sounds like.. Today I tried talking with an American Elder in our area and it was harder than it should have been.. I swear, how do people learn more than two languages and tell them apart. It's crazy. I'm learning one and can't even.  I'm switching between Spanish and English all the time so my main language here is Spanglish... 

But something cool happened this Friday. There is this girl in our area we are teaching and she is going to be baptized in two weeks.  When we first asked her who she wanted to baptize her like 1 1/2 weeks ago, she didn't know.  Then her mom asked me and my comp how many people we had baptized.  My companion said he had baptized two and I said zero. And she said, "Good, you'll do it to me, and then whispered to me that Paula wanted me to do it originally.. So I get to baptize her!! Woot woot, she is awesome, she is 9 years old and we call her menonita because she has light skin, like lighter than me... but both her parents are dark.. But anyway that will be cool!

This week my companion left me alone with this young couple in their house for an hour while he was in the bathroom. And I expected it to be super awkward, BUT it wasn't because in  that moment I was blessed with the gift of tongues and talked to the family for a whole hour, and understood like eighty percent which was a huge blessing because I hate feeling awkward. So yeah, that's the language update. 

Spiritual experience: I went to seminary this Friday--me and my comp made up half the class--but it was great! The class was in the house of a member.  This member is a single mother with no priesthood in the house. This member said that she could feel something different whenever we were with her, and then she asked me to bless her house... So I gave her house a blessing. It was really hard to get on the roof so i could put my hands on its head, but it all worked out and I gave a great blessing.. in English... but it was still great and its the spirit that counts. 

Sorry there wasn't much to say this week.. I'll try to have more things to say next week! 

Love you all so much and pray for you all every day!

Love,

Elder St John

Me about to jump the grand canyon.

Me being a child again.

Mexico?

I got on the roof and looked like a super hero.

This week has been pretty good! a lot of ups and downs this week.

This Saturday we had a training meeting with the President and that was good, but he made everyone turn in their iPods or mp3 players and that was sad. He told us that there are some rules that we won't understand and it's important to obey them. So I'm trying to look for the silver lining in this, i may have to look hard but I'm sure it will be there. 

So this week was FREEZING at least Tuesday through Thursday... but it's all good because I found a sweater in the house and was warm. But also this Saturday I bought some more warm clothes. And of course Saturday it got warm again... But it's not important because it will be cold again. Maybe...

Elder Moya and my face on how we feel about the weather. 

Lots of good lessons this week! Elder Moya doesn't talk as much anymore so I do a lot of the talking, which is good! It helps me learn Spanish easier and it's always good to practice. I sent grandma a little more about this and how it was a baptism of fire, and how in the MTC I learned that there is no growth in a comfort zone and no comfort in a growth zone, and judging by how uncomfortable I've felt I've probably been growing a lot. 

The moon this week was rad.  

Me casually drawing Jesus on the car of a member while we wait for church to begin.

So we have anothing baptism date! Paula Molina, a 9 year-old-girl who is adorable. So we are teaching her so she can be prepared to be baptized on the 29th of this month along with one other person, Angel.

We did some service this week, if I can call it that.. We chopped wood for a family here, but mostly just broke their axe and hammer... so im not sure how well of a service that was..

Chopping Wood

A Beautiful Sunset

Spiritual thought for this week: 3rd Nephi 2:7 [I'm not sure but perhaps he typed the reference wrong.]  I shared this after eating with a member family this week. It's a really amazing scripture, because God is always with us, even though at times it may feel like He isn't here, He always is. When I shared this I compared it to a mother teaching her child to walk. If the mother wants her child to learn to walk, she can't hold his hand his whole life, even though she is afraid her child will fall, she has to let him learn on his own. This is just like God letting us learn in this life. We were sent here to learn and grow, and we can't do that if God carries us the whole way through; He has to let us ¨fall¨ sometimes so that we can learn to ¨walk¨ or grow. So if you ever feel like you're alone, just remember that this is God trusting that you can do it.

Love and pray for you all lots. 

Love,

Elder St John 

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

Me in my casual preaching outfit with a Book of Mormon. 

The title to this email is a little misleading.. because they don't have dia de los muertos where I'm at, so sorry for the lie... But this week was pretty awesome.

The lessons and everything have been going pretty well this week, our investigators seem to be progressing which is awesome. And I now have 3 drawings of myself from the kids of the families we teach and they are awesome. And we also had 6 people at church this week which was awesome as well! 

We also got a new washing machine so we don't have to walk for an hour with our clothes to get to a laundromat and pay 100 pesos for a taxi and the washing. Which is good. And we should be getting our house sprayed this week so no more spiders! The weather here is finally cooling down which is also awesome. It's perfect down here. It's like Utah in the Fall now. But also that means I'm in trouble.. because I was really dumb before my mission and thought I could handle it here and that it wouldn't get cold.. I have a lack of warm stuff. So Dad I will be using my Chase card a little more so I can buy some more winter-appropriate clothes..

But Friday was Halloween and was really spooky. I got Grandma's [St. John] package and it was perfect. I got it Thursday and it was full of halloween stuff so we decorated our house and it was 10-10 spooky. I'll send pics. 

Some pics of the house.

This week we ran out of food and money so all we had to eat for 7 days was half a loaf of bread and the rest of the snacks I had from the package Dad sent last week. It's just a good thing the members here are nice enough to feed us every day, and also because it's a rule.. but we have money now and it feels great! Every month my companion and I get 1,200 pesos each which is a little less than 100 dollars each, but it goes a long way here. I usually spend about 250 or 300 pesos a week so it lasts well.

Not much left to say this week.. We got some candy while we where preaching on Halloween and that was fun, even though every candy here has chilies in it. I'm starting to get used to it..

Spanish is coming along really well.  Elder Moya says all I need is an accent and I'll be fluent. So I just need to eat more peppers and I'll be set.

Love you all so much!

Love, 

Elder San Juan

Week Six in Mexico

So first off there weren't any transfers this week for my district so I'm safe for another six weeks! I'm super happy because I get to stay with my comp and with my investigators and in my house! And my house is a million times better because we have gas now so we can cook and I have hot showers. Just in time for winter. Except it's still like 80 degrees here...

But this week was good! I finally got my package from Dad so Elder Moya and I have been jamming out this whole week. I was happy to find out that we don't have transfers this cycle but I found something about my house that gives me nightmares, and now I want to move.

Black Widows! I found four of them just outside my house. Like on the walls outside or in the doorway. I killed all of them but am afraid that there might be more... but whatever. Once winter comes they will all freeze to death and I'll be safe. Plus, I always check my bed before I sleep and I shower with shoes on so I'm always prepared in case of a suprise attack. But seriously, don't worry about this. I'm just a baby and over-reacting because they are all outside and we don't have spiders in our house. I can tell, because of all the flies and cockroaches that are still alive in our house.

But umm.. this week has been pretty average.. We only had one investigator come to chuch this week which was a big let down considering we had 8 last week. I guess we just need to try harder this week.

I guess, because I don't have super crazy experiences, I'll just share with you my favorite things about being a missionary.

1. I get to read the Book of Mormon for like an hour every day. This is probaby my favorite part that doesn't have to do with other people. Seriously, I didn't know how much I loved reading until I read the Book of Mormon. Every morning I get to read it and I read it at night and whenever I can. This is one thing that I hope won't change after my mission.

2. I get to talk to people all day about the Book of Mormon and about God and Jesus and eternal families. I think this message we have to share is the coolest thing ever and it makes me so happy that I get to share it with everyone for two years and seeing the difference it makes in people's lives is incredible.

3. No school

4. Free lunch every day

5. I get to learn Spanish

6. I get closer to God every day here.

7. I heard that if you're a missionary your family at home will get blessed so I hope that's true. Fam, you ll have to tell me about that one.

But love you all and hope you have a good week! And shout out to all my fans you guys are the real heroes, because without you I wouldn't be where I am today.

Love, 
Elder St John

The Solo Gringo

So this week was pretty good, its starting to get really dark at night here so I feel safe all the time... But any way not too much happened this week. I had to take a 40 minute bus ride to some place in the middle of nowhere called Janos to get fingerprinted for my Visa so in a few short weeks I will finally be an authentic legal Mexican and that's really exciting.

The beautiful desert of Casas Grandes

Uhh.. what else happened..

This week we got some more investigators from contacting so that's cool.  One of our current investigators set a baptism date for November 2nd so that's really exciting! Especially because I might be the one to baptize him! I hope I do because it will be my first!  We had 7 investigators attend church this week which is awesome, because I love it when my investigators follow through with their commitments.

The beautiful Church of Casas Grandes

I talk more in the lessons.. really badly but I can still do it so that makes me happy because even though its hard for me to speak I still love to try. But it's coming a long better every day. poco a poco.

Umm.. not much left to say.  Transfers are this next week and I'm hoping I get to stay here a little longer because that will be really sad.

Also I'm glad you think my letters are funny because I can't tell jokes in Spanish so everyone here just thinks I'm super serious or mad all the time and it's kind of annoying getting called "serio" or "enojado" all the time, so I try to smile more and that's helping a little bit.  But the better I get to know the language the funnier I am. And I reallly hope these two years don't kill my sense of humor..

It sounds like everyone back at home is doing great! I love getting the updates from everyone! It's cool to think that for a short time there will be three St Johns out as missionaries!

Nothing left to say, so Love you all and have a great week!

Love,

Elder St John

Week 4 I Think..?

So it's been about one month since I got here and that's actually really crazy to think about because I remember when I had one month in the MTC and I though that went by fast... but holy cow I think that my whole life right now is on fast forward.

So this week was awesome! A lot of cool stuff happened. So we talked to the Vazquez family this week and they all said that they wanted to get baptized which is amazing. An entire family of 5! How cool is that??? and I'm starting to understand Spanish a lot better now. I don't have to look at my companion to translate every question I get asked so that's helped a lot. I'm starting to adjust to waking up at 6:30 every morning so that's getting a lot easier. My showers are getting colder so we are going to have to get heating fast or else I'm just going to start my mornings off as a popsicle.

ALSO I had the best meal since I've been in Mexico. There is this hermana in our ward who alwas gives us American food, like one time hamburgers. But she ordered pizza this week and it was soo good. Not because of the taste, just because I haven't had pizza in a long time.

But this weekend was really special, Wednesday the other two elders had a baptism and I got to go watch it and it was really cool! I also got to help fill the font, and grandma we almost flooded it, but I remembered your warning so we made it back earlier than we should have and stopped it just in time. Seriously the water was like 3 cm below the last step... The baptism was awesome I had to say the opening pray and sing with the other elders and it was really cool.

Sunday was good too because we had 8 investigators come to church. Eight. It's crazy because we where only expecting 4 so that was awesome. And I love seeing people progress while we are out here, it's the best thing ever seeing people change their lives for the better.

Three Weeks in Mexico

This week has been pretty uneventful I think... I still have no baptisms and no one with a date, but we have a few investigators who are close!! So that's exciting! Also this week we found out one of our investigators is a witch and has like dreams or visions and she has a Santa Muerte in her house. I don't really know what that is so you guys will have to look up what that means..  But my companion and the other two missionaries in my district where freaking out... But it's almost Halloween so I think it's perfect timing to know a witch.

But this week was good, the weekend was awesome though. Saturday we did divisons so i was with Elder Almaraz and slept at his house so that means I got a hot shower for the first time in 3 weeks which was amazing and I almost cried. But then all day Saturday was spent in the church watching Conference and that was good, except it was all in Spanish with no English subtitles or anything so I couldnt understand most of it. But I got the general idea of most of the talks so that was good! Sunday was the same. I slept at Elder Almaraz's house and so I got to have a hot shower again.

To answer your questions Dad: 

I don't have any hot water, the only warm water is when it gets hot from the pipes being in the sun. and I think we will get gas in the winter, but I'm not sure what we will do...

At the MTC they gave me a water filter which I use to drink the water and brush my teeth, or we just put water flavoring in the water and that kind of helps.. but when and investigator gives me water I drink it, and no one has gotten sick from it so i think its alright if you only drink a little at a time.

My house has electricity, so we have a fridge and a gas powered stove and a microwave so we can cook pretty much anything we want, except our stove ran out of gas Wednesday, so we will probably get more gas soon.

It's pretty here. There aren't any yards with grass, mostly just weeds but it is surrounded by small mountains so it reminds me a little bit of home.

Also here in Casas Grandes, there is a group of people called Menonitas which are a bunch of people from Germany that wear overalls plaid shirts and straw hats and they speak German or Spanish, and that's weird..  But a lot of the Mexicans here think I'm a Menonita so that's always fun to get. At least I don't stick out a ton here because of the Menonitas. I'm not the only white person here...

But love you all and miss you tons! Talk to you next week!

Love, 
Elder St John