2/18/2013
Querido familia y amigos, this week i had an epiphany. I realilzed that i was starting to get frustrated really easily, starting to feel like i wasn't learning as much, etc. And i couldn't figure out why. I honestly wasn't feeling as much love for the people as i had, and even less for my companion, and having passed for that before, realized that it isn't a change in teh people. so i decided to try to figure out what the problem was with ME and not with them. I found a few. 1. Pride. it always gets in there before anything else and causes all problems. Pride is the root of all sin. I feel like i have seen that so much in the BoM and in life, but even then it creeps in sometimes if we aren't careful. Not even just pride in the sense of thinking we are fine, but i think i started to judge others and look down on them, even as i was looking down on myself. a pretty Bad way to go about things. I came to a conclusion. I was wanting mercy for myself and justice for everyone else. Things as simple as a comp losing some of my stuff, Jw's deciding not to get baptized at the last second because of one scripture they took out of context, people condeming us, lying to us, and even somthing as simple as someone eating really loud all made me just say, "whatever, God will be just". But i realized. I was constantly just begging for mercy for myself, definitely full of imperfections, but at the same time pointing the finger (in my head) and crying for justice for the rest. The moment i realized that i did something that Christ did so willingly, but that was honestly really hard for me. I started praying to God that he would forgive them, for they know not what they do. Forgive them for condeming us, they don't know the truth. Forgive them for not letting go of old beliefs, they have been taught all their lives, how can i judge them? Forgive them for eating loudly, they probably don't even realize. Forgive them for even taking my stuff, they were taught that way too unfortuantely. Forgive them for so many other things. It really completely changed my week, my perspective, and even made me feel different about myself. I feel better, happier, and with so much more love for the people and companion. It can be so hard to honestly ask and desire forgiveness for someone who just offended you in "x" manera, but it is so worth it in the end. At least i am no longer bearing the pain, even if they are. And if Christ can say, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" even for people who were in the same act of killing him, i can at least say, "Father, forgive him" for he know not he eats loud. Love you all, Elder West 

P.s. Ximena got baptized this week! She is so awesome. Has been so excited! And we had an awesome contact. We had passed the person by five streets, but we finally decided we couldn't ignore it and went back. We taught her and her family on sunday and they are so awesome! WE are hoping to help them be baptized march third. Love you all!

  Peter with mission president.

2/11/2013

otra vez no hay tiempo, pero no me sorprende. así es la vida acá. Lo amo. So we don't have much time, I had a nice long appointment in immigration today because someone who had my visa forgot to turn in some papers and it expired, but the good news is they aren't going to deport me! This week we did a ton of open house tour things in the church with a lot of investigators and that has definitely been helping us a ton. We also had two baptisms... Sort of. They live in our area, but are going to move in two weeks to another ward close by, and we didn't feel good about baptizing in this ward if they are going there, so we just finished teaching them, they had their baptismal interviews, and the missionaries, who hadn't talked to them at all when they were going to church, met them finally in their baptism, two baptisms. I doubt anyone has worked less for a baptism... But they are incredible people. They weren't sure if they were ready yet, but after an awesome lesson with the plan of salvation we knelt down and prayed, and stayed kneeling after in silence with our eyes closed for a while, and when the husband stood up he was shaking and said he knew it was true. Dropped coffee, etc just because we said God told us to, and then we explained teh word of wisdom, but it was such an awesome experience. They are so excited to go to the temple in a year. The sad part with that was i just realized i won't be here, which makes me really sad. One of my best friends in the mission, Elder Stiborek, who works really hard, helps me out, and we just get along really well will be going home in a week, and it feels like he's just leaving us. It makes me want to take advantage of the little time i have even more. Also, i am no longer gaining weight! i think i actually lost some, there just isn't time to eat when we get back ever, so we just eat breakfast, at 2 with members, and that is it. preobably not too healthy... but such is life in Mexico. con amor Elder West

2/4/2013

Ni sé que decir... This week was quite a week. First off, the benemerito, a church high school here that is the high school equivalent of BYU is now going to be closed to open another MTC!!! The members are all pretty sad to be honest. It was an awesome school, good education, good friends, etc. I know a lot of members and converts that went there, are going there, or were hoping to go there, but at the same time. We are all very excited. Go Missionaries!!! My companion keeps saying it means Christ is coming soon. We had an all day meeting with president this week and learned so much! A lot about where we are failing, how we can improve, what we are doing well, and more doctrine. He was a seventy and really knows Doctrine and Covenants by memory. He tells us that more than anything that was what converted him first. The Lord definitely tried our faith in January, but we are going to do a lot better this month. WE have more baptismal dates for this week than we had the past month. Unfortunately not a lot planned for future weeks. The best part is that the missionaries are more excited, happy, etc. We are working a ton to try to help them all out. THis week we are going to go on splits for 48 hours with two district leaders to help them apply the new stuff, learn from them, and get them excited so that they can help out their districts. A lot going on. We found a less active family that the ward didn´t know existed, brought them to church, and their daughter and grandpa is going to get baptized! The work is going well. A ton of work, but it is worth every bit. Love you all! Elder WEst

p.s. i forgot about the superbowl until someone asked me yesterday in the night who one. Being the american i am supposed to know... Didn't even know it had happened. Never has in the world (and in the mexico city), but not of the world applied so well. 

Forgot to mention. A family was having some serious marital problems this week and called us. Two unmarried 20 year olds to come and help. The dad was about to just rent another place to sleep. I thought it was so weird that they thought the two kids could help, but the cool part was seeing that it actually worked. Today we visited them and things are going a lot better. Thanks mostly to my dad´s talk on humility from ward conference. Maybe we don't know a lot, but we know plenty of people and profets who do. ANd the spirit helps a lot too. Love you all!

1/28/2013

Esta fue la primera vez en mi misión que me han planchado por trabajar demasiado duro... Que raro... This week was a very interesting one. First of the assistents called us to go on splits with them. Also, our area changed a bit so that the members in the ward would be more evenly spread between the two companionships. Our housing contract also expired, so we took the opportunity to change houses to the center of our new area. We are now finding a ton of new investigators from the members, which rocks. WE have one who is the unmarried husband of a member that we found this week. He has come to church a lot, but couldn't get married until he gets into the military school because apparently it gets a lot harder. We taught them the restoration and after the prayer we stayed on our knees for almost ten minutes in silence. He just started crying and said he knows the gospel is true, that the book of mormon is true, and he wants to get baptized. He is going to sign the military contract and enter the school on friday, and saturday we are going to try to get them married for his baptism on sunday. We also had a cool experience with someone who got baptized a year ago and hasn't been confirmed. After his baptism his wife went to oaxaca to look for her kids, but while there her ex husband murdered her in a really gruesome way, and he hasn't come back to church or wanted to here from us since, but this week we taught him the plan of salvation, and he started crying and told us he wants to come back. We taught the plan in two parts, and after he started crying. They were two really powerful lessons. Afterword he gave me a huge hug, and asked us to come back as soon as we can. Overall it was a good week. There has been a lot of pressure because the zone hasn't come close to its goal, and because we haven't either, but overall teh work is going well. Love you all. Missions rock. and are hard. But they rock. Love Elder West

1/21/13

Otro año ha pasado. himno numero 142. One year in the mission! It's official. Didn't do much to celebrate it other than call the other missionaries in the zone to congratulate them. Not much time, we are using every second we can. I feel like time goes faster every month, and now i just need to work a lot harder and faster. We haven't had the best month as a zone or companionship, so we'll see what happens, but i guess we have to learn how to work as hard as we can in the good and the bad. I'm very excited for February. We taught an awesome guy this week who had cancer several times, surgeries, and chemotherapy, and after sharing a story about one of my previous companions (who is currently in the hospital, pray for him), the guy said, yes, this is what i want, when we asked him to be baptized. It was a really powerful lesson. We'll see if his super catholic wife who won't listen to us is willing to get married. Love you all. Elder West

My comp and I at the temple.

1/7/2013
¡¡¡Feliz cumpleaños Mamá!!! Happy Birthday Mom! This week has been crazy. I thought transfers were going to be this week, but last wednesday i had special transfers and am now a zone leader in Chalco. It has been crazy since. We had to present a training for the whole mission on friday, and have been trying to work out a few problems with other companionships, transfers, etc. It has been a party. I felt so humbled. And for a while really inadequate. I have been in mexico about 8 months, and there are people in my zone with 23 who have a ton of experience. I finally realized that it is what the Lord has chosen, and that if i humble myself and trust in him, he will make my companion and i equal to the calling. It has been an incrediblly crazy week. There is now no time to think about anything but the mission, and i love it. I also really enjoy trying to help out other missionaries. This week the Reyes Magos, or the wise men came, which is like their santa clause, officially ending the holiday season. The kids also all have their gifts. We are now mainly in a place called Paseos de CHalco, which is a lot nicer than my old area. THere are people with computers and several with cars here. It is a huge change. And a lot less dogs. My companion is Elder Medina from Obregon, Sonora (in Mexico). He seems really great, and i am really excited for the chance to be here. We don't have any investigators here right now (the last guy was struggling a bit...), but the area seems like a great one. Love you all. Happy Birthday mom! Love, Elder West

12/31/2012

hola todos. No hay lugar como el templo. This week was really cool. Christmas rocked, we ate way too much (the culture is that you eat what they give you, and around Christmas they give you double, and not just when you go to eat, but in half the lessons too). Time to start the diet. The hard part is that the holiday season here actually continues until January 6, the day the reyes magos, or the wise men come and bring the kids gifts (santa claus is american). Which means that the food keeps coming. It was great to see and talk to the family on skype. The younger siblings are definitley growing up really fast. And we got to finish off the week great with a sealing. We went to the temple! There is a family i have been working with for 6 months, and they got sealed!!! It was sweet, there is such a cool spirit in the sealing, and you cna really get a glimpse of eternity there. It was a really cool thing to be a part of. I'll try to send some pictures of the temple next week. I also had a really cool experience of fasting with a question before going to the temple. It was a great oportunity to really find out what God wants me to do. I wish we could go to the temple more, but it definitely motivates me to look for families a lot more. Love you all! Happy New Year! ¡Feliz año nuevo! Elder West

12/17/2012

Hola, ya no hay tiempo... THis week was pretty good. I've decided picking five good things about my companion and writing them down every day can help a lot. This weekend was a bit crazy with all the parties for the virgin mary. Bit of a tough week, but we still managed to enjoy it. I also had the opportunity to go on splits with Elder Reyes, my last companion. It was great. We were working so well togethor immediately. The bad side was that everyone kept saying we got along a lot better than the other missionaries, and better than my companion and i. Need to work on that a bit i guess. We now have an hour less of p day, and they just told us, so we are basically out of time. Love you all. Elder West

12/10/12

Hola todos, esta semana fue bien cansado, pero bien divertido tambien. This week we had our noche navideña or christmas night, which was basically just a big meeting with half the mission and in the second half they gave us a turkey dinner (mexican style, which is very different), and then a talent/skit show. It was really funny. I feel like we really find ways to have fun in the mission to just enjoy every moment, and this night was all of it combined in one. Lots of laughing, singing, etc. It was great.

Right now we don't really have many investigators. The least i have had in my mission, which is more than many of the missionaries have right now. It's a change, but there is a much higher percentage of good investigators. One or two who are ok, but have problems like divorces or something, but we are teaching one guy that i feel like will get baptized the 22nd of december. he has a cousin who is 16, but such a good example and is going to go on a mission that this 15 year old wants to get baptized and wants to go on a mission. It just testifies of being a good example. This really is the work of the Lord. God finds so many ways to teach me every day. This wednesday is the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (one who apparently appeared here in mexico). Basically it means that we can't leave our house from tuesday evening to thursday morning. The people go crazy, and walk (even when they can drive) for between 7 hours and 3 days to get to the church where the virgin appeared. and this year 12/12/12 is going to be even bigger. There are already hundreds (and growing, apparently soon to be thousands) of people walking in the freeway towards this church, carrying a backpack with food, etc, and always a painting or a banner, or a statue of the virgin. Apparently it is the second most visited catholic site, second to the vatican. We have the luck to have the freeway in our area, so we are already starting to see the affects, and are going to be able to see what really goes on. Most of them go pretty crazy, and a lot of them very drunk, but i do have to give them credit, it is a very long way to walk, and especially when they carry a 4 or 5 foot tall picture or statue. But it means that all the missionaries are going to be inside this day. And we got permission to watch a few church movies (to avoid thinking about home). My comp and i are going to make enchiladas mexican style. Apparently in his house, enchiladas are tostadas. And they don't have tacos!!! So we're goint to run and get a few right now. Love you all! Elder West ¡feliz día de la apostasía de la virgen!

12/3/12
Hola todos, está semana me dejó... pues no sé, ¿a la mejor feliz? Pero estuvo muy bueno tambien.  This week was crazy. Transfers!!! So my companion had transfers and is now in my ward. That kind of rocks. I really love that guy. Never enjoyed three months of the mission more. The hard part will be not comparing my new companion to him. He's pretty hard to top. My new companion is Elder Martinez, from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His accent is very different. A bit less clear. But i'm excited to work with him. He seems to really want to work, and now it's all about learning how and applying it. Training is a bit tiring, but it is cool to see how much the new missionaries progress (especially when i compare where i was to where i am now, and look at the new missionary where he is, and where he can be in three months). We started out this transfer well, three baptisms on saturday! The Familia Feliciano got baptized!!! It was awesome, they are a very very humble family, and the daughter is so smart (she's 12 and reteaches everything to her mom who doesn't read very well and speaks more of a dialect of Mayan or Aztec (she doesn't know which) than she does spanish). They rock. And it makes me really happy that he also got to start his mission with a wedding and baptizing. We also got to attend a ceremony in which a member asked the dad of a convert for her hand in marriage. It was quite the ceremony The dad talks first, then everyone else present (that caught me by surprise), then the future son in law gives the parents gifts, talks, and then proposes in front of everyone. Then the family and everyone talks again, all one by one, and they finish by having a banquet. And they will be getting married in the temple!!! The week was exhausting, but overall pretty good. Love you all, ¡que les vaya bien! Elder West

My companion, Elder Martinez, and My companion with my trainer (Elder Quiñones), his trainer (Elder Ostler, who is from sandy as  well), and me.

11/26/12

¡Hola todos, mi hijo ya se va, ya es adulto, y voy a tener otro hijo! Ni sabía que era embarazado. This week was a bit crazy. We've been scrambling to try to find all of the members we can and help them in some way. The goal is that the more converted someone is the more likely they are to share the gospel, and the ward would be a lot stronger. President Spencer W. Smith (or Howard W. Hunter, i don't remember which) said that the desire to share the gospel is a good way to measure conversion. So we're going with that tactic. We´ve been working with the familia feliciano a lot, and they are getting married this thursday! The judge and i know each other pretty well by now, so he gave me an appointment, a better price and everything. ¡va mormones y juezes medio corruptos! The only downside is that the dad won't be ready to get baptized this week. We've been postponing the family's baptism for him, but he needs a bit more time to be ready, so his wife and two of his three kids (the other is too young) are getting baptized. It's been cool to see how much the daughter really really wants her family to go to church, to learn more. One person can make a big difference in the family. And then there's transfers... I really loved these last three months with my companion, he's a great guy. But now he's going to be leaving me. But turns out he's just going to move one area over, still going to be in my district and my ward, and he's going to be a step dad (he'll be finishing the training of another new missionary). And i am going to train again. I'm excited, i really loved it the first time, and can't wait to see who my new companion will be. The Bishop called president yesterday to tell him not to change us, apparently he really likes having us in the ward... That was good to hear. And my next companion will be able to start his mission with three baptisms this saturday! A family! We also made a cake with some converts, turns out chocolate cake isn't a common thing here. It lasted about five minutes. It was a pretty good week, and i am really excited to see what happens with the new transfers. ¡Les amo a todos y espero que todos estén bien! Con amor, Elder West

p.s. I forgot to mention, thanksgiving doesn't exist here, but a lot of people asked me about our turkey day, and about thanksgiving. We were going to try to have our own little thanksgiving feast, but the members this week gave us so much food (and if you don't eat it all it can be offensive) that we got to the house and didn't have any desire to eat any more. So we saved it for today. Happy Thanksgiving!

11/19/12
Hola todos. Una semana que se quedará sin descripcion. So surprise. Yesterday we had a baptism. We didn't know about it either. We started fasting saturday, mainly because we hadn't had a lot of success, and the Lord really opened up all of the doors. First off we ended up with twelve people (mainly families, which rocks) that can be ready for baptism and have baptism dates for December first or 8th. That was really cool. 12 souls. We left a lesson and I just turned to my companion and said, "God loves us". In sunday we got to church, still fasting, and were getting ready to leave when we found out that one of the less active families we had been teaching (and now have been in church for 4 weeks, callings, and are so excited) has a son who isn't a member. What we didn't know is that his baptism was yesterday, and that he actual counts as a convert. So we showed up and suddenly had a baptism service all ready. That was a nice surprise to say the least. And even better because this family is awesome. The week was really tough in a lot of ways, but God really answered our prayers. ANd our fast. I also really like fasting because the food at the end always tastes so good. My Dad always said on fast sunday, "Hunger is the sweetest sauce". It's very true. God answers prayers. And loves us a lot. Espero que estén bien. Love Elder West

11/12/12
Nunca darse por vencido. La santa cena es lo que nos permite ir de fracaso a fracaso y levantarnos otra vez sin perder el animo. Buena suerte google translate. This week we  had a bit of cold. Mexico. Cold. I was a bit surprised... Mainly just in the nights. But it's probably tropical compared to Utah. The people here have never seen snow (except on top of the volcano). Stake conference this week was a broadcast for all of Mexico. Elder Scott and Elder Clark (a seventy) spoke, and spoke in spanish. They don't exactly sound like natives, but it was cool to see them speak to the people in their language, and see how the people really loved it. Elder Clark went to a sunday school class and asked every one of the kids if they prayed as a family. It was about half and half when he got to the bishop's son. The bishop was sitting behind him. The poor kid looks at his dad, back at Elder Clark, at which point Elder Clark said tell me the truth. The kid said no. I can't imagine how the dad felt. We should all be praying and reading scriptures as a family. Elder Scott spoke, i liked his comment about how glad he was he was sealed to his wife, because now all the other awesome guys in heaven couldn't have her. He also talked about how grateful he was that he learned spanish, how it is a marvelous language. De acuerdo. We actually started the broadcast a bit late because of time zone confusions, teh stake president felt really bad, he said he had felt a prompting to start it early, even telling people it started an hour early, but he delayed acting on it for 23 minutes, so we started late, and he felt bad. But it was rebroadcast after, so we saw everything, but as a very distraught stake president and president Monson said, never delay a prompting. We also had the experience to work with President this week. He studied with the district in the morning, and after went to work teh whole day with my companion and i. He really speaks with so much power adn authority. My comp said he felt like a little baby chicken next to him. Definitely learned a ton. We worked a ton with members this week. 26 lessons this week with just members. In addition to service and other things. Crazy. Les amo a todos. Elder West   Dios siempre nos va a probar. Así es la vida. Que bueno que nos ayuda a trabajar.



11/5/12
¡Los cambios ahorita son los más grandes que he escuchado jamas en un misión! Estoy animado y voy a tener que confiar más que nunca... This week was a bit crazy. It really changes things not contacting, but i have really made it my goal to just put my trust in president, and teh area president, and do it with everything i've got. Turns out this is a change (no contacting) that is going to happen in all of mexico. We used to work (and always have in mexico) by pure tracting. I'm really excited. We also had some interesting experiences this week. A member passed away and we were in the funeral for a bit. It's really interesting to see the approach of the members and the non members. The members it was almost reverence. THe non members were sad until they got drunk enough to smile again. It really helps to know that God has a plan for us, to know where we are going, that the only sad part of death is the temporary separation, and that things really will only get better for them if we follow the Gospel. I also had some interesting oppotunities to work with missionaries in my district who have been having some problems. One was thinking about going home, but after some splits, district study, and visiting with each member of the district, i really feel like he has a lot more hope about the future, and seems like even in a few days that he is starting to do better, that is comp is a bit less down about things, and that the problems another companionship had have largely improved. It´s really cool to see how God will help us act within our callings to help others. It really helped me to realize that the experiences that i have had have really served to help me help others. I had three weeks where i was the most depressed i had ever been in my life, i thought it would be easier to just get hit by a car, it was bad, but since recovering from that, from learning more about teh atonement of Christ, i have really been able to get up and love each day, love the work. I have never been so happy. We didn't come to suffer, "life is to be enjoyed, not just endured". I really tried to help others see that this week, and i really think it has helped. A difficult week for numbers, but still loved it. I'm excited for the next. Love you all, con mucho amor, Elder West 

Also forgot to say, the day of the dead was crazy. It actually lasted three days, one for the little kids, who basically went trick or treating, except instead of knocking on doors, they ask for candy from everyone in the streets, even other trick or treaters. So we bought a bag of candy to pass out. It was actually really fun. The second day is for the adults, who visit the graves of loved ones and put little alters with all their favorite things, and no one is in their houses or in our area this day. It was like a ghost town. The third day is for the youth who have their "halloween fiestas". It was fun to see. A bit tough to teach, but definitely a cultural experience. 



10/29
¡hola todos! This week was crazy. My companion and i had to go to a meeting with president, where he announced that we will no longer be knocking doors. We now need to be working with 40 to 60 less active families as well as 15 active families. I'm honestly a bit worried, the majority of our investigators come from knocking doors, but we are going to trust president and work a ton with the ward. The good thing is that this will help to really strengthen the wards. The idea is that if 60% of our baptisms come from member references, and only 40% from contacting, if we stop spending 90% of our time contacting and use it all on the members than we will have way more baptisms. Converts that already have friends and are more likely to stay active their entire lives. It's definitely going to be a change. This week was a bit of a trial of our faith. The people we had ready for baptism all fell through, and all of them because of a combination of really unhappy family and a member that isn't fully converted yet. We're going to work with them and try to help their families see that this really is the way they will be happy. ¡Que tengan una buena semana! Love, Elder West

Other note for the week. Happy Halloween! And happy day of the dead. It is almost the same as halloween here now, except people put out the favorite food of their loved ones that have passed away, and there are a lot more skeletons and some people who worship death. Basically it gets more like halloween every year. But it definitely has a mexican twist, which is always fun to see. I'm excited to see how it goes. Love you all!

10/22/2012

Bautismos!!! And my companion and the bishop's sons. Nayeli and Jose Juan (they got baptized a week ago). Jessica Margarita and Osvaldo. They got baptized this week. God is blessing us so much right now. 

Esta semana estuvo freaking chido. This week we had one of the craziest weeks i have ever had. We ran from one place to another trying to make it to everything. We do use a lot of public transit, that's where most of our money goes. We walk a ton, but sometimes we have to travel 3 or 4 miles and only have about 5 minutes to do it. Luckily we have a freeway that splits our area and makes it really easy to cross. This week a family that hadn't come to church in more than 12 years shared their testimonies in church, and it was a really cool experience for us. They thanked us for serving a mission and talked about how they had been trying to find a way to come back, but didn`t know how. Also, we had three baptisms!!! Jessica, Margarita, and Osvaldo. They're all from the same family, and it was really cool to see how they went from believing that either all religions are the same, or that only the saints and the virgin mary can help us, to recieving a testimony of the Book of Mormon and wanting to be baptized. It was sweet. Jessica said, if i am going to change, i'm going to do it completely. She took out all of her peircings, left all of the bad influences in her life, and really seems excited to try to be the best she can be. Today we had to take the mail from the zone to the offices, and on the way back we stopped by Zocalo (the center of DF). My comp was so excited to see everything, and we decided to splurge and buy a hamburger from the mcdonalds there (american restaurants are always a highlight for everyone to visit when we're in the downtown). Les amo a todos, Elder West

Oct. 15,2012

¿Que transa? This week was crazy. Last week of the transfer always seems like a crazy one. We had interviews with president, which always rock, and i got to listen to a bit of conference that i hadn't seen. REally showed me how awesome every second of general conference is, how every part can answer a question. This week we also learned God really answers prayers. We had several days of scrambling to try to help people be ready for their baptisms, and sunday morning at seven forty it seemed like all three had fallen, we were pretty down, running to take a bus to get to one house, finding out the monster in law of Elizabeth had arrived and after a lot of problems with her, she couldn't get baptized this week, but we are hopeful for next week (she rocks, wants to pay tithing before her baptism, so awesome). We ended up walking to church and in camino we ran into Nayeli and Jose Juan. They were walking to church on their own with the clothes and towel, ready for their baptism. It really was a miracle. The boss of Jose Juan called him that morning and told him he could now take sundays off of work. We thought he wasn't going to get baptized for months because of work, but in the end they got baptized together!!! Always better for couples to get baptized togethor. They were so happy. It was sweet. And they make really really good tacos. Seis por veinte. Solo carne de gato es más barrato. Pero bien ricos. Overall a really good week. And my companion and I don´t have changes, so we'll be here together at least another six weeks. Two people in my district will be changing, so that will be interesting. It's always exciting around transfers. Love you all! ¡que les vaya bien! Elder West

10/8/2012

¡hola todos! This week was awesome. I feel like God keeps throughing things in to keep me busy and a bit out of my comfort zone, but it's been great. General conference rocks. The anouncement left thirteen missionaries that i was with with open mouths and stunned silence for almost a minute. And then a lot of celebrating and talking. (we got to watch in english!) There are definitely people who feel a bit uneasy about more immature missionaries, or problems with the girls and guys being the same age, but i doubt these will really be problems. My companion is 18 and one of the best prepared missionaries i know. It's not the age, but the effort they put in preparation. Even if they haven't lived out of the home, I think for many it can be a really really great thing. David, whatever you choose to do, pray a lot first, and trust what you feel. I know that you can be one of the best missionaries whether you leave at 18 or 19. Don't stress about it, just ask God and do it. You're better prepared than almost all of the missionaries i've known where when they left. (but that doesn't mean you don't need to really try to prepare). Love you bro. We also really liked Elder Nelson's saying "ask the missionaries". I presonally liked when President Uchtdorf said we can choose to be happy in any circumstance. And that we need to make resolutions now to not have regrets later. I also feel the same as Elder Perry when he said I hope to always be worthy of the title of the son of my parents. Can't thank them enough. Another thing you learn in the mission whether you leave at 18 or at 19 or 21. I also really liked how Elder Oaks talked about protecting the kids and how marriage really affects it. My companion and I are marriage experts here (the members are now asking us for advice on how to get married in the cheapest way), and it really shows how much it hurts a family when they start the family before getting married (or without getting married at all). During the Priesthood session we lost the signal for about ten minutes during President Monson, that was a bit rough, but finally we all got on our knees and prayed, and ten seconds later it came back on. It was a really cool thing too. I also feel the same as President Monson when he said, "I need, and I feel your prayers. Thank you." One of our investigators that came to conference told me, "you were right, it answered all of my doubts". I had asked her to come with questions and all of hers (and mine) were answered. These men really are the leaders of God's church, they really recieve revelation from him. I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ. We just have to help others know it. Love you all! Elder West 

10/1/2012

my birthday... it's better if you don't ask. 

 Andrea's baptism (she rocks), Gloria's baptsims (also great), 
 

 Elder Carrillo, Elder Reyes in middle, and me during transfers.

Our Mexico independance day celebration (it was a party, two missionaries, food, finger soccer, and a church movie (with permission)).

¡hola todos! ¿Como les va? This week has been crazy. We went to another city to marry a couple (they're awesome, going to be baptized this week), we had no money (there was an error and we didn't recieve money three weeks ago, and it ran out, but today we finally recieved it), and my district leader had special transfers (tranfers aren't for two weeks), and I am now the new district leader. That about sums the week up completely. It was cool to see that when we had no money the people seemed to randomly offer us food, rides, etc. God looks out for his missionaries. We don't really know why, but my district leader (who was great) is now in another zone, and I know get the opportunity to try to help out the missionaries in my district. That has been one thing that has humbled me a lot. I'm the youngest by a lot of the senior companions in my district, but God has his reasons to do things, and i guess it's another thing i need to learn, and that there is someone i can help. I love that every time i start to feel comfortable in the mission, like i've got a routine, God throws something in to mix it up. It's really something I love, it helps to keep us reliant on the Lord, keeps us praying constantly more than ever before. Another thing that happened this week was a really cool experience with my patriarchal blessing. They really are God's council for us, and the blessing that are promised are real. He loves us and really answers prayers. ¡Les amo! ¡que tengan buenas semanas! Elder West 

9/24/2012

"La iglesia mormona es la unica iglesia que tiene permiso de bautizar y confirmar." - Padre Catolico. A catholic priest or "father" told one of our investigators that The "Mormon" church is the only one that has permission from God to baptize and confirm people. That was a pleasant surprise. He said this in a catholic baptism to a huge group of people (accorting to her). I thought that was cool. Everyone who really wants to find the truth will recognize it, even if they don't always decide to follow it. This week we did a lot of service for the ward, we've been focusing more on members to the point where we're not contacting much. This week we helped one family tear down two walls and take out all of the debris as one of our service projects. It was actually pretty fun for one afternoon. Turns out concrete bricks aren't quite as hard as they look. One thing i've loved about these past few weeks has been teh excitement of my companion. He got here new and full of excitement for the work, and it really makes the problems pass by faster, and the rest of the day a lot of fun. It's definitely taught me a lot. Sometimes it's easy to lose the excitement for the little things, or even for the big ones. Sometimes we just need to take a step back and see how great life and where we are really is, regardless of problems, homework, or just plain work. It also has been a lot of fun because he has a pretty good sense of humor and likes to laugh. Reminds me a bit of the song "make them laugh" from singing in the rain. Make 'em laugh. Life's more fun that way. This week we had an awesome experience in the church. We brought a couple for a tour, and by the end they were crying and kept telling us they felt a peace they hadn't had before. Especially with some traumatic (no idea how to spell that now... español...) experiences. They have a baptismal date, and are really excited. It was also cool to teach an inactive family, and as we've been teaching them see them become reconverted to the gospel. Having people who haven't come to church in years is something awesome to see. Like they get baptized again or something. And it's been really cool to see one of our converts become the most active member in church. She goes to all of the activities, is early to church every week, and already has a tone of responsibilities. It's been really cool. It's cool to come to church and see a lot of people there that weren't there before. Even in a short period of time. The gospel is true. It really makes people happy if they are converted to the gospel, and not just the motions of going to church etc. ¡les amo! Elder West

9/17/2012

¡Feliz cumpleaños México! This week was crazy. the 16th is the independence day of Mexico. No one celebrates 5 de mayo, but everyone goes nuts the 15th to start celebrating the 16th. We had to be in the house early to avoid problems (lots of drunk people celebrating independence doesn't always go well with foreigners). We ended up celebrating in our house on our own. It was great, chicken necks, tortillas, empanadas, and we made mexican rice and juice (peach flavored). We were practically mexican. Except that today we made hamburgers... We also had a lot of fun with a finger soccer game (thanks mom!). The day after the streets were carpeted with millions of fireworks (mostly bottle rocket like things). We also had a cool experience with Brenda, Yael, and Viridiana. We finally were able to talk to her husband, and for a while i thought he was going to get baptized too. But in the end, Brenda and Yael got baptized Sunday. Great way to end the independance day celebrations. We also had a really cool experience with a couple we took to the church to give a tour and teach the Sabbath day. We finished in front of the baptismal font, sang a hymn, and in the end they were crying, and almost couldn't pray. It was really cool, and we're hoping they can get baptized in a few weeks. They were really excited about the idea of having the gift of the Holy Ghost. ¡Les amo! Elder West

9/10/2012

THis week i don't have a lot of time, we are very behind, we had a meeting with the zone in the morning that killed most of our day, so we're running to get things done. My new companion is Elder Reyes. He is great. He's from Guatemala, came really prepared, and seems like a really nice guy with his head and more importantly his heart in the right place. We had a really great, and really crazy week. This week we had the baptism of Gloria!!!! We spent the week scrambling, running, and judge hopping to get them married, and finally we managed to track down all the papers that are legally required, and find a judge who doesn't charge us as much, and we finally managed to get her married in saturday. It was really hectic, but it was a great way to spend my birthday. Really mixed things up, which was nice. And what better way to celebrate a birthday than with a wedding? We ended up eating a lot of sweets that day too... Turns out people here haven't ever seen chocolate chip cookies, and most of them haven't seen brownies. But i think another american elder and i have made addicts out of our companions.... It's been a great week, and it's been kind of funny to see how having a "son" in the mission really makes you feel like he's your son sometimes. You really want to do the best for him, and make everything perfect. It was so great, i asked Gloria if he could baptize her, and she was excited for it, and so my companion was able to baptize someone his first week in the field. I was really excited, and he was almost skipping. It was great. But out of time, ¡les amo a todos! ¡Gracias por todo!