Week 52

Hey everyone!! 

I've been trying to keep up on every one's emails but today I want to write my testimony, cuzthis morning, something profound happened, that I wish to Share to Testify that God knows us, and loves us. 

Well I have about one year in the mission now. 1 year and 4 days haha 

And the truth is I haven't been the best missionary here. I'm still trying to figure out how to be consecrated, and give my all, every minute of everyday. 

But as a missionary, it's a commandment to give our all every second of every moment. 

And knowing that, this morning, I felt weighed down due to my sins and faults. So I went into the other room of our apartment, to pray. 

As I prayed I acknowledged my faults to God, and I asked for Forgiveness, and to be blessed with the Holy Spirit, according to his will. And when I had asked for that, I felt his profound, and amazing love. I also felt the Love of My savior Jesus Christ. I felt the mercy and forgiveness of Christ, and our Father in Heaven. 

And in that Moment I realized that every time, I had asked for forgiveness, and the Spirit, I always received such. And with that realization, my heart filled with Joy, and peace. 

And I expressed my gratitude to God, and my gratitude for the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

I know that Our God, our Father, is Loving, merciful, patient, and understanding of our Faults. and that He knows us, and loves us perfectly. I know that Jesus is the Christ, and that his atoning blood is infinite. I know that Christ is our savior, and that he wants to forgive us. 

And as I expressed my gratitude towards my Father, and my Savior, I desired to truly give back to them, repay them, or make it up to them, for their love and grace they have so willingly given to me. 

But the scriptures teach that we could give God, everything and it still wouldn't amount to nearly enough. We will always be eternally indebted to them. and knowing this, I was weighed down with sorrow, for I wanted to help or give back to God, in some way that would be of significance, but I felt that I couldn't.

I apologized to God for my weakness, and told him I wanted to do something more. 

And in that Moment I spiritually heard the Voice of God and he said unto me "Save my Children" 

My faith has increased greatly this morning. I am in eternal debt to my savior, and father, but all that asked me to do was to bring the gospel to the sons and daughters of God that they may be saved, and enter into the joy, and peace of Gods Kingdom in the final day. 

This experience brought tears to my eyes, and I know that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that he desires to bless us greatly. That's why he blessed us with this Church, and this Gospel. 

I know that this is the true Church of God, and I know that Christ Lives. and I know that God is our literal Father, and he wants us to return with him. That's why he called me on a mission. 

I am grateful to God and his Mercy and love towards all of us. 

I asked all of you to please come and partake of the amazing goodness, and love of God, through his church and Gospel. I know these things are true, and I testify in the Name of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen

Week 31

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't get around to emailing this email for a few weeks,
but I decided to take some time to write this today haha

Well first off there has been some confusion with the mission address where I can recive letters, because the mission office moved locations. It turns
out this is the correct address:

Elder Johnathan Elkins
Victor Rocha Cruz
Apartado postal 118-184
Gustavo A. Madero
México D.F.-C.P. 07051
MÉXICO

If you sent a letter to the other address, I should still get it, cuz I'm
still recieving letters from there. It'll just take more time.

So the past few weeks have been pretty interesting! haha We had a mission
conference last week and it was one of the most awesome conferences I've
ever been too!! we had a member of the presidency of the 70, Craig C
Christensen, and a member of the are presidency visit us!! They taught us a
lot of really amazing things!!! And I can say that they are truly men of
God, their words invite the spirit so strongly and they can speak with such
power!!!
I really can't say great it was!! haha

and Also we got the old district back together in the conference!!! it was
great to see everyone from the MTC!! I felt like Ammon, (A powerful
missionary in the Book of Mormon) who when he found his brothers who were
still his brothers in the Lord, was over joyed to see them again :) That
day was definitly an amazing day :)

and THis last Saturday we had the baptism of Jasmin, who is one of the 6
daughters in the Chaltell family. Her baptism was great, and I know she'll
recive many blessing for showing God that she is willing to Follow Jesus
Christ.

But there's some one else I want to focus one for a minute. Her Name is
Bscilisa Santiago.
My companion and I found her my first week here. adn we started teaching
her. Her family has been members for a while now, but she never converted.
My companion and I started at the Basics with the Restoration of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, all the way up until she wanted to be baptized.
She was baptized two weeks ago. and I can tell you what, when someone is
about to be baptized, all hack breaks out and tries to stop it. That
Saturday we kept running into problem after problem. and in the end of the
day before the baptism we didn't have a whole lot of water in the baptismal
font because the water to the church building got shut off as we were
filling it up, and the brother in the church who was going to baptize her
called and hour before the baptism, and said he couldn't make it that
night. Here in this mission, missionaries aren't allowed to baptize anyone.
Our mission president made that rule because he wants members in this area
to baptize new converts, so that new person will have a friend in the
church after the missionaries leave.
But this night I ended up getting special permission to Baptize Bacilisa :)
but we had another problem, I didn't have my white clothes that we use for
baptism. ( we use white because it symbolizes purity) my clothes were still
with the brother in the church from the other baptism. But I managed to
very tightly sqeeze into the white pants we bought for Sofia's baptism (ou
can look in previous pictures, and see how much bigger I am than Sofia
hahaha)
And then the next problem was the didn't know the ordnance prayer for
baptism in spanish. So I spent a half hour trying to memorize Bacilisa's
name ( which is long haha) and the ordnance prayer in spanish.
after the program started I got into the baptismal font with bacilisa (
which was only about half full) And I said her name and the prayer, and
baptized her. (I had to go really low with her too haha )
and after she came up put of the water, my comp closed the viewing doors to
the font, and Bacilisa cough a little bit and pulled her hair out of her
eyes. I asked her if she was okay ( cuz she was coughing a little bit) and
she said she was fine. But only a few seconds after that she began to cry a
lot. at first I was worried that she was surprised by the water or maybe I
hit her head on the bottom. (that's the lifeguard in me) but then I
realized that what was happening was she was feeling the spirit testify to
her that what she just did was the will of God, and I knew in that moment
that she was feeling the incredible love of her Father in Heaven. She cried
for a while, and then after she had calmed down a little bit we stood in
the baptismal font completely silent for a good 5 minutes with my hand on
her shoulder. And the spirit was testifying to Bacilisa, and converting
her. that moment was so intense. And in that moment I knew that this truly
is the Church of God here on the earth. Only the spirit could cause what I
saw that night in the baptismal font. It was like the spirit of God Just
hit Bacilisa with such force, that I've never seen take so immediate
affect, in my life. This truly is The Church of God. I have literally seen
miracles in my life, but that moment was one of the most powerful.

Week 30

Week 27

Hey guys out of time again! But I wanted to say I love you guys! (Even though that sounds super fruity) hahahaha 

But yeah still alive here, only got electrocuted once this week, but will probably get electrocuted again this week haha

Anyways, thank you all for being my friends and writting me! sorry if I didn't get to all of you again.... I have to do reports now which eats up time like crazy... 

But yeah thanks for writting me! and I look forward to partying with all of you when I get home, but for now I got work to do, and people to help!! Have a great week! Love you guys! Keep being awesome

Week 26

dang!! I only have 10 minutes to write this!! President will ring my neck if I go over time! haha so this will be fast!! 

quick funny story here, I got electrocuted twice today!!!!!! hahahaa 

So we ran out of gas this week for the boiler. So we've been heating up water in buckets with an electric coil for heating up water, but nobody told me that they're dangerous! haha 

so the water in the bucket this morning was heating up, and so I went to feel the water to see if it was good. Like I have in the past. But in the past my feet were dry. But today my feet were wet! and guess what happened! hahaha Yep I felt the electric current corse through my arm this morning hahaha it was a good thing I was able to pull my arm out of it!! lol but yeah that was pretty funny! 

and the second time today:

So we're on the roof of our building, washing our clothes in a washer that our neighbors let us use. Our neighbor lives on the top floor, so we started talking to her, and it turns out her husband has a flash light that's a taser!!! hahaha she got it for us so we could check it out. It's super sweet!! Until your companion tazes you!!! hahah so yeah 2 times in one day lol 

I was also on a bus today. and our bus driver got mad at another bus driver, and so he get's out and starts yelling at the other bus driver. Then our bus driver gets on the other bus, and almost hits the guy, so the other dude grabs a bat, and so our bus driver gets out and grabs a big rock ready to kill the dude hahaha crazy people here lol nothing really happened other than that haha there's quite a few crazy people here lol I don't know why all the drunk and high people want to talk to the wero in enlgish, even when they don't know anything at all hahah 

so somehting spiritual for today. 

This week I decided I'm just going to go crazy with the pass along cards we have a the ressurected Jesus Christ!! Because he's not dead!!!! 

I'm so sick of all the people here always going crazy about their stautes of a dead Christ! The bible says directly that Christ has Ressurected!! He is our Living Savior!! I know that for a fact. If Christ was dead, we wouldn't be here, and there would be no hope for mankind. Christ isn't on the Cross, he's in the heavens, watching over us, caring for us, strengthaning us. yes the death of Christ is very very important, but that doesn't mean that we should only worship a dead Christ. He's living.

I know to some people, they like to remeber his death and his great sacrifice for us. That's great! But my heart is pained so deeply when I only see My savior, and redeemer, my Lord, my King, and my very dear Friend, Dead, on the cross, covered in blood. 

He is alive. Why can't the people here see that?  

But that's why I'm here, I'm here as a missionary of Jesus Christ, sharing the message of the Living Christ. 

I have to go now, but it is my burning testimony that Christ Lives. 

And I say these things in the name of our Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

Week 25

Hey everyone!!!

Dang why does time go by so dang fast when you're emailing?? haha

But yeah another interesting week here in Mexico!!

First off want to say that General conference was great!! Even though I
couldn't understand any of it!! haha
we watched it in the Church building with the ward, and so they had it all
translated into Spanish! And so yeah I had a hard time with that haha

For those of you who may not know, General Conference is a worldwide
broadcast of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints!
we have a conference every 6 months, and every time, it's such a great
experience! even if you don't understand it! haha
During Conference, a number of Apostles speak to the world, and the Prophet
speaks to the world as well!!

Every conference is a great opportunity to find answers about the gospel,
and even just life in general, and the people who speak are truly people of
God, and the only testify, and speak of the truth!!
The Church has a website: lds.org

If you want to know more about what Mormons believe, all the conference
sessions are on that website, each message applies to different situations
that people have in life, and are always inspiring, uplifting, and
comforting, and healing.

I invite all of you to listen to the Words of our Loving Father in heaven,
through the words of the Prophets :)

anyways, now time for some funny stories haha

So yeah I like got super fat in the MTC, and in Arbolillo haha
My new area is La presa 1, and is one of the biggest areas in the entire
mission! it's all on the side of a mountain haha
if you been to san fransisco, in California, you know the mountains are
steep, so just imagine those steep mountains in San Fransisco, but only 10
times bigger!!! haha

But despite the fact that these mountains are bigger than those in san fran,
the mountains here are super small. Before my mission, I would be able to
get to the top in about 20 minutes, but here I'm like dead haha 6 months of
getting fat will do that to you lol

But man it feels so good to be doing some hiking again!! I miss it so
much!!

my first week here, My comp and I were on one side of our area, and we had
an appointment set with some one on the other side of our area, so we walk
down one mountain, and start walking up another. It was hot, I was all
sweaty, throat was dry, had a head ache, hard time breathing and my heart
was pounding (thanks to that MTC food) after about 45 minutes, we get to
the house where we had a few people to meet. a
and guess what, they weren't home -_-
Don't you love it when people don't keep commitments? haha

But I'm getting in shape now haha hiking, and climbing these mountains all
day fells great now!!!

And also here in Mexico city, it's all straight concrete. Like there's
absolutely not a single significant patch of open ground here, it's all
concrete. (I miss dirt haha)
And there's also a ton of little kids here. and the kids have figured out
that they can slide down the concrete roads on plastic water bottles haha
so that was fun to see lol but also sad that the only thing these kids have
here to play with, is just garbage they find in the street.
I've also been to a few homes that have only tin roofs, dirt floors, and no
food in the refrigerators...
So yeah my first area felt like Sacramento, but here it's like legit
Mexico!

there are also parts of my area, where the construction of the city
resembles a prison. Which I though was funny cuz there's a large number of
Mexicans in prison in California haha
(not to be racist at all)

But speaking of being rasist!!!!
My name has changed again here in mexico, before people would pronounce my
name in Spanish, but here they don't even try. They just say El Wero (weh-do)
(means Gringo)
I hear that all the time now!! I always hear, Wero, El wero, werito and WERO!!!
and people always want money from me -_- news flash to the world, not every
American is rich!! there are multiple people here who have a ton more money
than my family!! (there's a full on legit castle in my area)
but then again that might be because they're drug traffickers hhaha
but yeah people in this area are pretty racist haha

oh also something I though was pretty funny during conference was during
the Priesthood session (for men) of conference, you could see a bunch of
Shiny bald heads in the congregation hahahaha with the new camera angles
they use during conference you can see the people in the foyers, and it was
funny to see a bunch of spots of light in the conference center haha

Oh and also this past saturday was the Saturday of Glory!!! haha that's the
name of a party day for people here, lol any excuse to party right?
but on this day, people like to get other people wet with buckets of
water!! like you'll be walking in the street and random people will run up
and soak you!! haha my comp and I were careful to avoid that, cuz we were
in our suits for conference. one girl almost got us, but she decided not
to, when she saw our suits haha I told her thank you lol
but yeah it's just a fun game that everyone joins in here haha

But yeah another great week here!!! hope you guys had a great week too!!
sorry if I didn't get to reply to all of you.
Love you guys! Miss you too! we're gonna party like Mexicans when I get
home!! haha
Have a great week!

Elder Elkins

Week 24

Hey everyone! 

So this letter is probably gonna be short, but I got some news! I got transferred this week!! 

I'm in a huge area called La Presa, and it's a little dangerous here haha it's right next to cuatepect, which is the most dangerous area in my mission haha 

So staurday we were waiting for the transfer call from opur Zone leaders, and we finally got the callat 9:00, and my comp tells me that I'm leaving!!! I'm like what!?!?!?! Liar! you're leaving! (cuz he has almost 7 months in Ventisca, and I only have 4)  

But sadly it turns out that I was leaving..... I've only been in La presa for a few hours and I already miss the people in Ventisca.. 

I cried a lot, and I cried with my friends in Ventisca... And they cried for me... I didn't want to leave. 

I had some many amazing people that I was working with in Ventisca, and the same night we found out about tranfers, we were with one of my Investigatores, Rafiel, and he was begging me to help him, he said multiple times, help me, help me, come back to my house and help me... 

and then I got moved accross the mission... So I'm super sad about that.. 

But this new area seems to be alright! It's huge, and on the side of the mountain, so I'm gonna be super tired all the time from hiking all day everyday haha it's a good thing I like moutain climbing!!! 

it's also pretty different from ventisca, and a little more crazy haha 

My new companion is Elder Cornejo!!! yep!! I have 2 different companions with the same name!!! haha 

My new comp seems to be super awesome! So I'm looking forward to working with him!! 

but I'm expecting to be robbed at any moment here haha so I'll have some cool experiences lol 

oh and that suprise that I mentioned last week, was we were going to show up for transfers in a limousin when my comp get's transferred!! haha but Elder Cornejo from Chile didn't get transferred, and the limousin turned out to be super expensive haha 

So I'm pretty short on time, But this work is great!! It's hard, and long, but at the same time, it's the best thing I've ever done! 

I'm a missionary Of Jesus Christ, and I have seen the blessing of gospel in my life and in the life of others, and now I'm here helping people come unto christ and helping them receive the blessing God has in store for them! 

Ever day I have to rely on God to help me and guid me, God is Merciful, and he love each one of his Children, and he wants all of us to return to him, and that's why he sent me here. I didn't want to leave ventisca, but I have been called of God to La presa, I don't know why I'm here in this part of the mission, but Faith isn't a perfect knowlege of things, but it's a hope for things which are not seen, but that are true. 

Love all you guys!! hope you have a great week!!!! 

Please continue to write me! I always love hearing from you! 

Adios! 

-Elder Elkins 

Week 23

Hey everyone!! another good week here in Mexico! 

I have a few good stories for you guys haha 

Well first off I want to honor a sister missionary here. 

A couple weeks ago I witnessed the death of Hermana Anderson, she was out in the mission for about 1 year, and for that entire year she was sick, and finally President Hall gave the word... 

And so she is reading this right now in her house haha don't worry she only got sent home! When a missionary get into the mission they are born, and their trainer is their father/mother and when a missionary leaves the mission, they die. 

So yeah Hermana Anderson Was the first missionary that I saw die here, and I was pretty sad, she was in my zone for about 3 weeks before she got sent home due to health problems. Which is a huge bummer cuz she was super awesome!!! Always super funny, and made every one laugh super hard! 

And she can sing amazingly!!! 

I consider her a great friend!! And she said she was a, Black lady inside a German Body, with a mexican heart, and a british accent!

hahaha that defines her perfectly!!! 

So yeah we had our last zone meeting with her, and after the goodbyes, while she was walking away We all did the HungerGames sign with the three fingers lol 

it was weird to know that she was going to be back with her family in a few hours! 

It's even more weird to think about when I die in the mission haha 

Also people kinda go crazy in the mission haha 

That same Zone meeting, my Zone leader, Elder Allison was kneeling on top of a chair staring out the window, while rocking back and forth, and whistling, like he lost his mind haha if you imagin it it's pretty funny lol 

alos had some more fun with dogs this week!!! 

We were with Felipe, and he was visiting people with us, and we saw the black dog that doesn't like me and a another dog too haha 

So Felipe grabs a stick and starts running after the dogs waving it around, and so the dogs freak out and run away from him, but then the dogs turn around and start coming after us!! haha then another person runs up and was throwing stuff at the dogs haha so that was fun! 

We also got into trouble with the police here!!! 

So part of my area is right next to the MTC here in mexico, and one night, aftyer we visited a person, we saw missionaries in the houses of the MTC and so I climbe the wall, and my comp climbs a tree, and we called for the missionaries in the MTC and like 10 of them ended up coming out and they were like MISSIONARIES! REAL MISSIONARIES! hahaha 

and so we're talking for a little bit, and guess who shows up! 

THE COPS!!! hahaha 

someone called the cops on us cuz they thought we were doing a robery!! haha 

When I first saw them I thought that we were in huge trouble! Cuz a lot of cops here are currupt! But these two were super cool, and they just asked us not to do that again cuz the people here freak out haha 

We also have a Baptism set for this saturday!! Her name is Silvia, and she's been an investigator for about 2 years! That's super cool! I'm excited for her! Cuz when we make the covanent of Baptism with God, and become his faithful followers, he blesses us more than we can comprehend!! And I know that Silvia and her family will be blessed greatly as she and her family come unto Christ! 

Without this gospel and the guidance and blessing it brings, my life would be so different, and a whole lot worse!! 

I know the gospel is ture, and I know that as we follow our Savior, we will be taken care of in this life and in the life to come! 

I have a lot of friends who are mormon, and friends who are not mormon, but I invite all of you Mormon, and not mormon to partake of the goodness of Christ, become his folowers, and enjoy the countless blessings that come from his loving Mercy. This is my testimony in the Name of our Savior, Jesus Christ Amen

Week 22

Hey everyone! 

So another crazy week here! 

I'm not sure where to start haha 

So there was another black dog that tore my leg off again haha but I turned around and chased it off haha what is it with the black dogs here?? lol 

Oh Oh oh!! I found the California's rain!!! It's all here in Mexico! haha we had a super big storm come through this week. Everyone was scared cuz the power was out, trees were falling, there was blinding lighting, that shook the appartment buildings and everything haha I loved it!!! 

My comp said he thought it was the Second Coming of Christ! 

But yeah like no joke, the winds were probably 100 miles and hour. And a ton of trees fell! There are quite a few smashed cars, ever more brken car windows, downed power lines, and destroyed fencing. The place where we play soccer got destroyed pretty good, but people still play there haha 

There have been crews working for the past week to clear all the trees that fell. And they were big ones too haha 

we also lost power for a few hours that night. 

And during the storm a tree limb fell in the road in front of our house, blocking cars from getting through. So my comp and I ran out and moved it. We were out there for less than 20 seconds, and we were completely drenched! haha so yeah that was super fun! 

still haven't gotten another love letter from that girl if you were wondering haha 

and also this week we've been teaching an invesitigator of the church, and all her neighbors know her, including members of the Church. 

One member told us about our investigator. He told us that she practices whitch craft.... yeah I'm serious haha 

It turns out she does some kind of ritual that allows her to be possed by spirits. 

Other missionaries have told me that they've seen that kind of stuff before, but I didn't really expect to find it here. And my comp and I have reason to believe that what our investigator's neighbor told us is true. Last time we met with her, my comp and I both felt like there was something else there.. 

Her name is Anacelia, and she's super nice, and accpets everything we teach her, and she's been to church a few times. So we'll see how this goes haha 

So that chick who likes me, her mom is going to be baptized! we took her to visit the temple grounds, and go through the visiters center, and after that when we asked her what she thought of baptism, and she said that she wants too!!! :D :D 

So the plan is right now that she will be baptized on the 28TH!!! 

We alos have another invesitgator who is Golden!!! She loves everything that we've taught her!!! 

But sadly she is going to spain for the next month so we won't see her for a while. Hopefully she's be able to find the missionaries in spain, and so then they'll be able to teach her!!!! Her name is Itsi, and she's super awesome! she's been all over the world performing in shows as a dancer!!! 

And we've become good friends too! We're definitly gonna party after my mission! haha 

and transfers are the 30th of march! I should get a new comp that day. And we got a big suprise for all the missionaries when we all meet up for tranfers haha but I can't tell you guys right now haha 

Well that's about it for this week. 

Hope everything is going well back at home! Love and miss you guys!! 

I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the true gospel God has given us to help and guid us in this life!! 

Have a great week! Keep being awesome! 

-Elder Elkins

Week 20

Hey guys! Another good week! 

This week was insteresting, it had crazy girls, drugs, tears, and the Spirit of God! 

So I guess I'll start off with my situation with the girl who's crazy about me haha 

So she still likes me, but I haven't gotten another love letter from her, but holy crap, her mom is in on it too!!!! 

We had lunch with them one day, and the girl wasn't there, but her mom was, and her mom said, as we were eating, "you have to come back and marry my daughter!" and I'm thinking in my head, holy crap! This lady is crazy! 

These people don't even know me!! I'm like yeah you would freak if you found out that I love to hunt! 

And so I pretented like I didn't understand her, which I did, but most of the time I still can't understand the people here. But My companion, in his bad english, made sure that I understood what she was saying haha thanks a lot!!!!!! 

But we've alos been helping them move houses, so ther next day, we went to go help them, but this time I brought my hunting hat with me, and I talked onlyu about hunting with the girl and shared some bloody hunting stories hahaha she didnt like that :P and later on that day, I showed the girl that likes me, pictures of Rachel ( a good friend of mine) 

And she didn't like that either, so hopefully all that will get her off my back haha but my comp and I decided never to go back to that house again haha 

and it turns out there's another crazy chick here who's after my companion! the first problem we had with her, was she walk up to us in the street and asked my companion for something, that I don't want to write about haha 

but a week later, she found us again, but this time, she full on tired kissing my comp!! hahaha Mexico, is crazy!! 

and yesterday, my comp and I were walking back to our house, after lunch, and we saw like 20 police cars, and 10 motorcycles parked in the street, and we were like what the heck happened??? 

And then I thought it's probably a drug bust. and yep I was right!! 

we continued to walk back to the house, and we walked past a party out in front of a house, and then they start yelling ELDERS ELDERS! Come join us! then a few startede singing a song about the elders, someone was cussinbg us out, and they were all drunk (all that is pretty common here in Mex) haha 

But then we saw like 20 police running towards the party, and then 20 more on the other side, and they were all geared up with assult weapons, and they crashed the party hahaha the pèople in the party were pretty upset! lol 

And so we get back to the house, which was super close to all this, and we told out neighbors. And our neighbor was like, oh yeah there's a drug lord in that house haha 

I've seen a few drug deals here but not a drug bust! haha 

But speaking of drug lords, it turns out one of our investigators ( a person we're teaching) 

was a former drug lord. His name is Rafiel, and he's super funny!!! he's the guy who speaks perfect english! 

But this week we invited him to go to church with us, and he said yes!!! 

and this week was super great because the first sunday of every month, the members of the church have the opportunity to share their testimony on Jesus Christ, and his Church, and Gospel. 

So it's always super spiritual! 

A lot of members stood at the pulpit, and spoke, and I did as well. 

Even though I can't speak spanish, it was one of the most powerful messages, and testimonies I ever shared, and I cried. 

If you know me, you know that I don't cry a whole lot. So I know the spirit was super strong cuz I was crying. 

I talked a little bit about my family, and how much I missed them, and that I sacfriced 2 years with my family to be here, to serve them and the people of mexico. 

And afterwards, I sat back down with rafiel. He said that my testimony touches him. 

and that he wants to read the book of Mormon!!!! 

It truly was an amazing experience!! 

we also brought and Member of the church, who doesn'¡t attend very often cuz she can't walk due to a car accident. And she needs about 5 people to carry her to church. 
But after my testimony, she promised me that she is going to attend church every week now!! Cuz she knew how much it meant for me to leave my family, and she also felt the spirit of God!!! 

Only the spirit of God can change these people the way that they were changed that day!! I know it's because this is the church of Christ, and this is his work!!

Love you all!! and have a great week!!!! 

-Elder Elkins 

Happy Valentines day, mexican style!

Happy Valentines day, mexican style!

Week 18

Hey Everyone! I have a little bit of time left! I just got back from playing some futbol, and dang the people we were playing with were tough haha but I'm getting a little better :P 

And sorry if I don't get to all your emails today! 

So I got a joke for you guys haha 

So a Crazy Chilean, a short Mexican, and a Tall White Cracker walk past a, Black and racist, dog. Who gets attacked by the racist black dog?? 

The tall white cracker of course. Them black dogs don't like them white crackers hahahaha 

Yeah I can say I've been attacked by a dog now. He was pretty good sized too haha he just ran up and went all football americano on me, almost knocking me down. I don't know why he didn't sink his teeth into my leg, cuz he easily could have shredded my leg haha But I won't complain about him not chewing my leg! After he ran into me, he just was barking and snarling, And I just sat there and starred fear in the face haha Felipe (the short mexican) Ran up and chased the dog a little bit, and then I did too haha but there were people watching the whole thing (probably the dog's owner) And so we didn't want to get after the dog too much, cuz everyone here is super animal rightist.

And I keep seeing that black dog everywhere! It's sitting outside the door of the internet Cafe I'm in right now. 

it's everywhere 0.O 

So yeah that was fun! 

And hope you guys had a good Valentines day!! Cuz mine was the most whackface day ever! 

I'll tell you of one thing that happened haha 

So I teach english classes on saturdays, and one of my Students is a 15 year old girl. She's super good at english, and is pretty much fluent. 

She's been studying english for 10 years now. 

And so after the class she said happy valitines day, and gave me a donut! I was super happy about that! I didn't think it really meant much cuz the people here are pretty generous with food. But after the donut, she gave me a letter.... and in my mind, I'm like ooooooooohhhhhh ccrrrrrrraaaaaaappp. 

And after that she gave my comp a donut, but not a letter. And then I was like ooohhhh hhhhoooolllyyy ccrrrraaaaaapppp. 

We said good by, my comp and I started walking to our house, and I read the letter.... and I was like.... 

NO MACHES!!!!! PORQUE YO!?!?!?! 

I told my comp about the letter and he's like oooooooohhhhhh craaaaaapppp. 

We translated it so he could understand, and then he was like oooooohhhhh hoooooolllllyyyy cccrrraaaappp!

We had to call President Hall, and tell him. I almost got transferred areas, cuz when a girl like a missionary here in mexico, it's a problem. 

President said I could stay here, but if I get a second letter, I'm leaving the next day hahaha 

And girls back at home, don't worry, I'm a missionary. So nothing will happen hahaha 

(But please try not to kill eachother when I get back :P )

The letter pretty much said I'll wait for you. 

And that the spirit I bring can be felt kilometers away. 

and I'm like yeah I'm sure it's not the spirit you're feeling girl haha 

So yeah that was my Valentines! 

Another quick story here is that absolutely no one has Root beer!!!! 

I was in walmart one day eating a hambuger from burger king (which was nasty) 

And there was also a KFC. And in California, KFC is known for their Root Beer, but here it doesn't exist!!!! NNOOO!! 

I asked them, but they didn't know what it was, and eventually the entire staff was at the front counter, trying to figure out what I wanted. But then I saw a tiny list of Sodas that they had, and there wasn't any root beer, so I said oh okay, bye! and sadly walked away with no root beer... 

But apparently they have it in Cualtipec, which is one of the most dangerous areas in the Mission. So yeah I'm hoping I go there, so I can get some root beer! 

and I had planned on sharing a spiritual story with you guys, but I gtg now, so next week! 

Love you all and Keep being awesome! Have a great  week! Love you! 

-Elder Elkins

Week 10

Hola Mi amigos!!

So sorry if there are missing letters in this email, I type too fast for his computer haha

 my email time got cut short yesterday cuz we had a district activity. So I'm writting this now!

 I'll tell you a Little more about mexico!!

You all have probably seen the Harry Potter Movie, with the crazy bus driver seen.

That is exactly what the buses here do. No regard for speed, and swerving around cars haha literally!

And the buses here get so full that people literally hang out the doors haha I haven't gotten the chance to do that, but I look forward to that day haha

And when you get off, you have about a 2 second window to do so, before the bus takes off.

I've had to jump once. But I stuck the landing!! I've Heard of other missionaries eating it when they jumped haha that would be funny to watch hahaha

Another thing here I realized, is that the dogs, not the people, are super racist!! haha

Whenever my comp and I walk past dogs that are behind a fence they always want to kill us!!

But I'll stand there and watch that same dog, and whenever a mexican walks by, the dog is totally Chill!! It's literally only my comp and I!! ANd it happens eveyday!!

and the people here let their dogs run free everywhere. And during the middle of Church, and dog came in and said hi haha

totally random, and pretty funny!!

This week, we also had our Ward christmas party! The mexicans here know how to party!

haha we had a musical performance, and then we had like 6 or 7 piñatas!! I was able t whack the last one!! it was super fun!!

I ended up knocking it down, and we couldn't put it back up, so we just dumped it on the ground, and The Bishop here is pretty fun, he ran up and laid down on the Candy to keep it from the pack of wild niños, and so me, Elder Cornejo and a few other hemonos all dog piled on the bishop!! it was super funny! I wish we got it on video haha

So my district activity last night was Christmas Caroling!

We went to a house of a family here, and the mother, and a few of her sons were home, 2 of her sons are pretty Young, probably around 5 or 6.

so we sang to the mother who was standing outside with us, and then we were talking to her, and one of her Young sons jumped out the door completely naked and yelled someting in spanish that I didn't understand. Then he ran back inside  hahahaha I'm still laughing about it :P And the sister missionaries were with us too, and they were a Little  embarrassed when they saw that haha super funny!!

anyways we continued to talk to he Mother, and she stated crying because her father is in the hospital with cáncer. She thanked us a lot helping her feel loved and cared about.

And after her,went when to a Widows home, and sang silent night, she started crying too. And thanked us a lot as well for helping her feel loved, and cared for. She lives alone with her 6 dogs. And was sad because her daughter who was living with her, isn't living with he anymore.

Out of the hundreds of people we could have visited here, God guided us to the 2 who needed it most. I'm grateful that my father in heaven guided us to his daughters who needed it the most.

I also went on splits with My zone Leader Elder Allison this week too.

and went to go meet with a lady who almost got baptized. She had all the lessons, knew the doctrin, and knew that this is God's Church on earth. And the week of her baptism, she just dropped it all, and the missionaries haven't been able to meet with her, for 4 months. But the day I was with Elder Allison, she let us in her house. Allison wispered to me, it was a miracle!! it truly was! we shared the video about Christmas, He is the Gift. (if you haven't seen it go watch it right now!!!) And then at the end, we asked her tp pray.

As soon as she started, she started crying. Her brother has been in the hospital, and she has an broken heart because she is worried about her brother who has serious injuries from a crash.

My fiends, I testify to you that prayer is real, and that God loves each of us, and hears our prayers.

When this sister started praying, I know that God was communicatng to her and that she felt his love. I have felt his love. and he wants all of us to feel his love. It's an amazing thing, and if you truly want to feel it,all you have to do is ask, with real intent, having faith in Christ. God is always watching us, and wants to help and comfort us in all things. All have to do is ask in prayer, and then let him help us. 

And prayer so easy my 3 year od sister can do it.

Just adress our heavenly father, express your feeligs, ad the desires of your Heart, and close in the name of Christ.

it's that easy, and it's real!!

But I gtg now, time to get to work.

have a great week!! Love you guys!!

Merry Christmas!!

-Elder Elkins

Week 11

Man oh man where too begin, this is always the problem of emailing haha

I guess with fútbol! 

Just got back from playing with everyone, and dang there were a ton of people today! haha 

and they were tough too! I barely had any ball time! 

But I did manage to score 2 goals today! And I'm getting better! 

I forgot to tell you guys last week that I scored 3 goals!! Super awesome! 

And I discovered I'm pretty good at stealing the ball. I can never keep it, cuz I'm just not able to control the ball like they do here, (it's insane how good they are at that) 

But I'm able to kick the ball out of their control pretty good! 

I don't think they really like it though cuz I just keep doing ithaha Sometimes I just feel like a crazy dog, chasing the ball,cuz where ever the ball is, I am too haha. And I've notice some of them try to get rid of the ball as soon as they seen me coming haha but its the only thing I'm somewhat good at, so I just stick with it haha 

But today was an off day for in soccer, so I didn't get as many steals, and the people we played with today are super good! Its pretty cool though, there's a community soccer field here, and the teams are just groups of friends who play against other groups of friends. My team is usually missionaries and Members of the church in our area, and the other teams are groups of friends that know each other. But they're all super chill here, no one has every gotten mad, and everyone plays fair! Even when someone gets hurt, no one gets mad like in the professional league haha 

and last week I got hit in the face pretty good, and my vision went blurry for a few moments, but unlike the professional players who are babies about everything, I took it like a man and kept on playing! hahaha 

And another thing I forgot to mention last week was I went on splits with my zone leader Elder Allison, (who is super awesome!! and Possibly the best missionary in the mission) 

I stayed the night over at his apartment, and we taught a few people that night. 

In the morning, we taught another person too! He was super awesome! 

Everything we said made sense to him, and he accepted all of it right away, and wanted to be baptised!!! 

Super awesome dude! Oh and I should mention, that he's a rubber Chicken haha

yeah you read that right, a rubber chicken!! 

It was just practice teaching,cuz esponol is super hard, so Elder Allsion helped me practice teaching in spanish, and so we taught a rubber chicken hahaha 

My teachers in the mtc saidspanish is the easiest language to learn. Sorry Hermano Rios (who gets my emails too) but I don't think that's the case haha

In spanish "to know" is "Saber" 

in english there's just 3 different forms of Know -Know, Knew, and Known. 

But in spanish I counted 34 different forms of Saber!! NoMaches!! (That's spanish haha) 

There's also a native spanishspeaking Sister Missionary here too, and she lived in the USA for 7 years, so she's fluent in both languages. She saidspanish is harder than english. So yeah that's saying something hahaha 

Christmas here was super awesome! 

Everyone here is super family oriented! We visited multiple families, and one family gave me a couple pairs of socks! One of them were shark socks!!! haha it made me so happy! It's the little things in life that make a missionary happy!haha But I did miss being with you guys in California for Christmas! But only one more Christmas to go here in Mexico! 

The mission life is a butt kicker. So much to do, so little time. 

But the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families, and individuals more than any of us can comprehend. That's why I'm here. I gave up two years of being with my family, so Families here can be together forever. I want all of you to know that I know for a fact, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints is the church God himself leads and guides today. 

The purpose of our missionary work, isn't to increase our numbers, or increase anything, it's only to help people come unto to Christ. I'm working 16 hour days here every day, for 2 years, without pay. In fact my family and I giving money for me to be here. My family and I are sacrificing a lot for my mission here in mexico. I've given up so much. My whole life actually, so I can teach people about my Savior, and their Savior, Jesus Christ. That's how important this is to me. It not easy being away from all of you. Everyday I think of you guys, and the great times we had. But this is important. I know Christ can and will help everyone. He is your God, and My God. He watches you everyday, and helps you in everything, even when you don't see it. And he can help and bless you even more in your life if you let him. 

I testify of these things with my heart to all of you. 

But it's time to go now, Back to work! talk to you guys next week! 

Hope all of you had a great Christmas, and Happy New years!! 

Love you guys! We're all totally gonna party it up in 22 months!!! 

-Elder Elkins

Week 12

Why am I always out of time?? haha 

So funny story last week I forgot to tell you guys!! 

We were over at the House of the Guillame family, who aren't Mormon, are we're just hanging out and talking for a little bit. Teresa gives my comp and I a couple pieces of Chocolate! And being my immature self, I'm like YESSSSS!!! 

And so I proceed to eat one of the pieces, and it was straight up nasty!!! And seeing the look of disgust on my face, and Elder Cornejo's, they tell us the Chocolate has Tequilla.... WWWHHHHAAAAATTTT!!!! I can't eat this!! And it's nasty!!! But I felt like it wouldn't be appropriate at all to spit out a whole mouth full of Chocolate, and tequilla onto the plate in front of me. So yeah I had tequilla for the first time. And never again!! Super feo!!! 

And now you know, always check the lables of chocolate in mexico! haha 

And if you at home are preparing to serve a mission for the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, don't get your needed clothing from Missionary mall! Big rip off. I've been meaning to rant about this for past couple weeks haha 

So I had 2 suits and 4 pairs of pants from missionary mall, and now I'm down to 1 suit, and 1 pair of paints. 

So basically Missionary mall claims their stuff is so durable, it'll last for two years. Lie. 

I have a pair of pants first 5 minutes of walking in the mtc, it ripped. Then I got it sowed before I came to mexico, and first 5 minutes of walking in mexico, it ripped. in two different places. 

the other two pairs ripped after only a couple days of walking. 

And my suit pants ripped cuz I had to climb through a window haha 

yeah I had to climb through a window cuz I forgot the keys to the door of our appartment one day haha  

and the nxt day I forgot the keys again..... ( that's like the 6th time now haha) 

And so I had to climb throught the window again, but this time, I was wearing my cheap pants from Khoals (is that how you spell it?) 

and those pants are perfectly fine, and I wear them every single day now, cuz I don't have much else to wear haha 

sond Missionary Mall says they'll replace everything that rips during the mission, but all their stuff is super cheap stuff that they sell for a lot of money. And they know you won't take their offer to replace your clothes cuz it'll be cheaper and easier just to buy the clothes where you are. 

so yeah, don't buy stuff from missionary mall... 

Another funny story real quick haha well it's more of a song lol 

A Family who are investigating the Church, tuned on a song one day. The only lyrics of that song, repeated over and over again, are Lo Mataron. Whichbeing translated means 'I kill you' haha 

and it was a pretty sounding song, but those are the only lyrics haha 

Mexico is Crazy :P 

So I wish I had a super good Spiritual experience to share this week but the truth is I don't. 

I've discovered this week that I've been assigned toTHE WORST mission in all of Mexico. 

We have the lowest numbers out of all the missions in Mexico. 

We're not here for the numbers, but the numbers represent all the people we're helping here in mexico, and we have the lowest. 

And it's not that the people here don't want our help, it's the "missionaies" here who are the problem. 

People here are so open to the Church here, and they are all super nice! Well most of the time, I've been cussed out for being a greengo haha 

But it's not like the missions in Russia. In the mtc I met missionaries who are going to russia and can't wear their name tags cuz people will assult them if they see that they're missionaries. 

But here people love us and our help. 

There have been multiple times where my comp and I have gone hungry so we could feed people who don't have food. 

But not all the "missionaries" here are here to be missionaries. 

There's a group of mssionaries here who call themselves the Mafia. And the only thing they do is break the commandments of God, and the mission rules, and try not to get caught. But people still see them doing all that crap, and it's destroying all the good work of the real mssionaries here wh are trying to help people... 

I know multiple people here who go to Church, but refuse to have anythig to do witht the missionaries cuz of what they've seen some do. 

The mission President Before president Hall just gave up all hope for this mission. 

And President Hall has been here for a year and half. He's given that whole time for the bad missionaries to get their acts together. But they havent annd now it's judgment day. A ton went home last week, and now a whole bunch more are going home this week. 

Multiple areas are being closed here just cuz there aren't enough missionaries to cover the 12 by 6 mile mission. 

So hopefully we'll get rid of all this crap. Pres. Hall got rid of the Mafia Bosses, and he knows who the new ones are, and they're going home this week. I really hope the good work ngets going soon, cuz I didn't give up 2 years of my life to have all the good things I do here destroyed by disobedient missionaries. If you're going on a mission, you better be obedient, cuz if not, you destroy the kingdom of God here on the earth, and it would be better for everyone and yourself if you never go, if you're not going to be obedient to the commandment s of God. 

So I gotta go now. 

hOpe you guys had a great New years! And have a great week! 

Love you!! 

-Elder Elkins

Week 13

hola mi amigos!!!

 

Another interesting week haha

Sorry if I don't get to your email this week. not a whole lot of time haha

 

I'll start with a quick misión update.

So no one in my zone has been sent home. I'm glad cuz they're all awesome!

But I do know that a ton of missionaries went home all in dishonor. And I wouldn't be surprised if many end up excommunicated, cuz God will not tolerate the wickedness those missionaries were participating in. They were being Hypocrites, and God will not have hypocrites represent his Church.  so yeah, that's harsh, but the reality of it haha

I have my first transfers under my belt now! haha we got a few new missionaries, and two of them are "Rule Nazies" as some people call them haha so we'll see how that goes with the other missionaries in the zone. But they might be what we need here to get things rolling again.

 

Ate a couple interesting things this week haha

people here eat straight chicken necks, had my first one, and it was prettuy good!

Also had some habanero salsa that was super hot!!  

We got some vids of that, and they're probably up on the blog if you wanna watch them, they're super funny! haha

And also had a sandwhich with Horse meat in it.

(sorry Rachel if that upsets you, I hope we can still be friends)

But yeah it was pretty good too haha

 

I also discovered that I'm too White to rap hahaha

I got a song from one of the other missionaries, and it's a versión, of I hope they call me on a misión! with a rap chorus haha I had the rap memorized, but I'm too White for it haha

The vid is probably on the blog too lol

 

Had some Street burgers with my friend  Filipe this week too! They were super good!

But Filipe got sick from them, and I didn't. so I'm hoping that means I just have a natural immunity haha

 

This week we were also going to the Visiters Center on the temple grounds, With Filipe, and he needed to do a U turn, and ended up hitting a motorcycle haha the guy waas totally fine, so it was super funny! All we hear is a beep beep, and then CRASH! and the guy wasn't mad at all either, unlike in the united states, where they'll sue you for a ton of money haha

 

The visiters center here is super awesome! And the spirit of God is there, and it's my favorite place to be!

Buty I'm out of time now, so talk to you guys next week!!

Love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Elkins