Border Crossing

This past week was a pretty good week!

We had a normal week, just visiting less actives, recent converts, and our investigators. We focused this week on commitments, and obedience and it worked out pretty well.  We even used examples from the last Conference. We met a few new people who have some potential and on Sunday the family that we ate with invited a friend to eat with us, so we got to meet a new investigator, who has friends in the Church! 

Also, this Wednesday, I went to the border to get my fingers printed, and by the place we went to there is a bridge that crosses the border.  We went all the way to the middle were it divides Mexico and the US, and we went to the US side! SO for about 2 minutes I was in the United States. It was great. But then we went back and I was back in Mexico.

But that was my week! Love you all!

Love,

Elder St John

La semana Extraña...

So this was a pretty strange week.... but it was a good week too! So don't worry about me. 

Wednesday was probably the strangest day this week, but basically put an appointment for Wednesday afternoon with someone we talked to in the street earlier that day. When we got to the house her son was outside and told me and my companion "come in Christ" which was pretty strange. But we went in and were welcomed into the house by an entire congregation of Christians, and it turned out we made it just in time for their class or meeting or whatever it was... So they invited us in, talked about Faith and than sang a bunch of songs and prayed. Then gave us cantelope and then we left... It was an interesting experience because I'd never gone to a different church in my mission but it was also really strange... But the woman who invited us in has an interest in the Church so it was worthwhile. 

Thursday: we painted park benches for service, and later that night on our way home we were stopped by a drunk man that we had talked to before named Isaias. He talked to us again for like 10 minutes and then as we left we shook his head, and he pulled me in and kissed me on the cheek and left saying, "That was the kiss of Judas." Needless to say I walked home laughing the entire way trying to understand what happened. I am now 100% convinced that I will never try one drop of alcohol when I get home because it ruins lives. 

Friday we taught a really good lession with a family who had a son leave on his mission about a month ago, and we made plans to do a lot of mission work with them so that they can have experiences like their son. 

Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed Conference and visited a few investigators and went to a BBQ.  

It was a good week, and I'm glad to be a missionary! 

Love, 

Elder St John

P.S.  The following is from an email Spencer sent to me today.  It was so good, I want to share it with you:

Confrence was really good and I really did enjoy the talk about mothers and women from Elder Holland. It was really good! But I also really liked the testimonies of the 3 new apostles. Even though I didn't really question them being apostles before, the spirit testified to me in each of their talks that they were chosen of God. It was a really good Conference. Priesthood session was really good too, and the only session I watched in English. So I really liked it. 

I'm really good! Sometimes I get down because not very many of our investigators go to church now, so I'm working hard on how I can fix that, but the agency of other people is probably the most frusturating part of being a missionary, because WE HAVE everything that anyone could ever need to be saved and to have eternal life. But the people have to accept it, and that's the hard part. I'm trying to help others realize how truly important and how much value our message has. But in the end it's up to them. 

We eat lunch everyday with the members and they usually give us chicken, rice and beans, or anything else with rice and beans. I really like the food here, even though it's not very healthy I'm keeping down the weight by walking. haha I'm glad you think I look sharp. That's always good to hear. And I'm glad you like the ties too! Lots are gifts. 

Me Gustan Las Gringas.

Elder de Olarte and me. 

So this week was pretty cool! We found a few new people to teach which was exciting. But we need to work on getting them to church. But little by little we will get them to the truth. 

Tuesday I ate an entire Habanero pepper and it was delicous, and my mouth burned for like 10 minutes, but it was worth it. 

Wednesday was just the normal day of contacting and teaching. But it was a pretty good day!

Thursday I ate something called a Gringa, which is a quesadilla with meat and other ingredients and it was delicious. It is also what they call girls from the United States so I felt funny asking for one.

This is a gringa. Best thing ever. 

Friday was also just a normal day. 

Saturday was a good day, because we got to visit a few people we hadn't seen in a while, like a recent convert, and he was glad we visited him. 

Sunday we watched the lunar eclipse and ate Indian food. 

The super moon with the Elders and Garhett.

My Indian food.

The beautiful sunset in Juarez on the cotton fields.

So it was a pretty good week all in all. I'm very excited for conference next week and I hope you all watch it too! 

Love you all.

Love,

Elder St John

LA INDEPENDENCIA MEXICANA

This last week was Mexican Independence Day, and I celebrated by eating pasole, and that's about it.. considering we can't use fireworks, or go to parties or things like that, I'd say i did everything I could to feel the Mexican spirit. 

This week was pretty good.  We found a few new investigators, which was very exciting.  One is a family of four who live pretty close to us and sell food outside of their house. They are awesome and have a ton of questions. 

There was a baptism in the district on Saturday and I interviewed the person who was going to be baptized and he was awesome. HE told me his WHOLE conversion story and it was incredible. I won't tell you the story, but I'll just tell you that God does not cease to be a God of miracles. 

Friday night we had a "Noche Mexicana" and we had enchiladas and gorditas and a bunch of other Mexican food and music and we brought an investigator and it was really fun. I drank more Horchata than you could imagine. 

Sunday we ate lunch with a young marriage of recent converts. And they gave us crickets to eat so I ate them with my ice cream and they were pretty good to be honest.

But all in all it was a good week! And I hope you all have a good week this week! 

Love,

Elder San Juanito

This is the cricket that I ate.

One Year in Mexico

So I don't have a year in Mexico yet, actually I think Wednesday will be my one year in Mexico mark. But it's pretty cool to think that I haven't stepped foot in the United States in a year. That's a long time. But to sum this year up I would just say it was a big fiesta. I learned Spanish, got sunburnt, froze to death, I've met like 1000 people. I've eaten 200 tacos and 300 burritos. I've grown a mustache and changed my name to Ernesto. So I'd say not much has changed. It was a great year, and I look forward to my last year in Mexico. 

This week we contacted a lot. We found a new part of our area which was cool, so now we have more places to meet people. And also two new elders opened another area in the ward. So the ward now has 7 missionaries (the sisters are in a trio) and in my district there are now 11 of us. Best and biggest district ever. 

Elder De Olarte keeps on getting better and better, he is a really good elder, and I always learn new things from him. 

Satelite is an awesome ward and I'm super glad to be here. I hope you are all happy and well at home! I love you all!

Love,

Elder St John

Just to make his email longer I will add a bit of what transpired between him and me today:

cc:  Did you get to watch the Mexico City Temple dedication? 

Elder SJ:  I did and it was beautiful. Elder Holland gave an amazing talk, and I got to hear it twice because he said one part in English then it was translated to Spanish, then English then Spanish. It was great! 

cc:  I think Katelyn and Luke came home from their honeymoon today. I hope they had a good time. 

Elder SJ:  I hope they had a good time as well! Where did they go? 

cc:  We are loving BYU football this year. Tanner Mangum is the starting quarterback and he is a true freshman (the starting QB broke his foot in the first game). Tanner was a companion of Mason's in Chile. He is doing phenomenal things. It's fun. And I am sure we must be related. 

Elder SJ:  I'm glad you're all enjoying BYU football as always. 

cc:  Is your companion still doing well?  What do you do on your P-day?  Did you ever get the "no big deal" package I sent?

Elder SJ:  My comp is still great! We just write, buy our groceries, eat, and have our district meeting at 5:00 and then it's over... not much time to do anything really... but there is nothing to do here anyway so not like we are missing out. And I did and I forgot to tell you! Thank you soo much! Even though the box got ruined in delivery and there was chocolate everywhere most of the stuff survived. Thanks for all! 

Unlucky 13

SO as of yesterday, I started my 13th month in the mission, pretty scary right? I hope it's not as unlucky as I think! But we will see. 

But this past week went well! Just a lot of contacting and working with the members! We have a few good progressing investigators right now.  One is Astrid, who will have a famlily home evening with us at the stake president's home and that should be exciting! And yesterday someone introduced us to a friend who seems like a pretty good prospect! All is going well with Elder De Olarte.  He is a great elder and helps me a ton! 

I just want to say that I'm super happy for Katelyn for getting sealed this Saturday. I think that that is awesome, and the fact that families can be eternal is the best thing that this gospel can offer! I hope everything goes well with you all at home and I love you all so much! 

Sorry for the short letter, we don't have much time and it wasn't a very eventful week!

Love, 

Elder St John

Week One of Elder St. John's Diet

So this was a pretty normal week, I just keep training Elder De Olarte as hard as I can so he grows up to be a great son. And it's turning out pretty well. He is an awesome missionary! And to be honest, I'm probably learning more from him than he is from me. 

This week we contacted a lot. Which I think is good, because when I was a new missionary, I didn't contact very much at all. So now is my time to learn. And we are doing pretty well! We don't get rejected nearly as much as we did in my old area, Lomas. So I feel pretty successful. Actually in the book, The Power of Everyday Missionaries, it says that you have success when you invite, so I must be having a TON of success. 

And as you can tell, the mission put me on a diet. But its because I'm too skinny, not too fat... So I have to eat like 2 more burritos a day to get to my "normal" weight. So I'm all in on this diet.  I think Im probably the most excited anyone's every been to be put on a diet! 

This week we also had stake conference, and it was really good! The talks were really uplifting and insightful! 

Sorry for the short letter, but this week we didnt have any really cool experiences... 

Love you all. 

Peace out.

Love,

Elder St John

PS Felicidades Kate! Espero que disfrute su boda y que tenga un feliz matrimonio! Te amo mucho y que dios le bendiga!