December 7, 2009 (Still in Cuidad Guzman)

I´ll start off by saying that I´m running alot of stuff on the computer right now, lol. So it´s going a little slow. There is SO much cool stuff on lds.org! I´m listening to a reproduction of ´What Child Is This?´ by the mormon tabernacle choir. It´s STILL in the introduction, but I believe it´s going to be good. It starts off with the strings humming quietly a gorgeous accompaniment while a flute streams through the traditional melody. A choir hums away with the strings. Strings just took it away, flying through a windy chorus...and now the choir takes off. I want every single cd known to man made by the mormon tabernacle choir...and a download of everything not published. I´ll get started on that as soon as I get that USB, I´ll plug it in here and listen to all the Christmas Music I want! You never said if you found it or not so I´m assuming everything is in order. Today was a tiring day. A TIRING WEEK! Monday, last monday. I don´t even remember, except that...OH YEAH! Lol. President Garcia the new branch president of Tuxpan spent the whole day with us. Lol. He served a mission in the U.S. Baptized in L.A. and later served in Colorado, and managed to find his way into Elder Nichols ward! Haha. Cool, eh? He went to the cyber with us, he went to Sorianna to buy food. Everything, he spent the night on Sunday. Lol. He got called as Branch President that last Sunday and then missed the last bus for his little rancho so he showed up at our doorstep and slept with us! We bought a bunch of beef to make carne asada...which came out horrible, but it was the experience right! We had an old stove there in the house so we dragged it out back, put blocks on top and then took the rack from inside and put that on the blocks threw some charcoal under there and grilled away! It was a good sight! Lol tuesday ... what was Tuesday...Tuesday´s we go to a little town called Tamazula, I have some new pictures that I´ll put on here some time. I´ll tell you what they are later. So I have 10 months left. I´ll divide that into blocks. When a few elders leave in Feb. I´ll have 6 and then on my birthday I´ll have 3...then on your birthday I´ll be home! Lol. Goes by fast. This change has been going by fast too. This last week a little slower. I get irritated really easy and it´s hard for me to focus on happy things. I usually don´t laugh as much, or I do by force. Very serious lately, lol. Not me is it? Well Tuesday we were in this pueblo of Tamazula and we go around with the branch president there and visit the world. Haha. I was getting down on myself a little about our efforts. We haven´t worked that hard. I can´t expect that great of results. I COULDN´T expect that great of results, however, the Lord God has heard my prayers. He has opened the hearts of the people in Tamazula. Francisco and Christina and their little girl want to get baptized and a man named Dionicio. We´re working with a woman named Rosalba and her two children so they get baptized too. It´ll take work and many miracles, but we´ll do it! Quick note: The glory of God is intelligence, or in otherwords, light and truth, light and truth is knowledge, it is intelligence. Reading the scriptures and pondering on the words of Christ bring us the Holy Ghost in which the Lord and our Heavenly Father bestow us, light and truth. When we read the scriptures and ponder on them, ponder on the decisions and events of our life we receive intelligence...knowledge. Wednesday, I´m pretty sure we just kind of flitted Wednesday away, and had our meeting with Hno. Barragan where he yells and complains at us. Thursday we ... went... ah... nope... what´d we do. We went to help an Hermana sand her fence again, FINALLY finishing it. We came back cleaned up and headed to El Tepozal. A little Ranchito of ... like 70 houses. Most of which come from the same 4 families. We didn´t really teach anybody but went to visit a recent convert family who recently went inactive. We then visited all the members (3 families) and invited them all to prepare a few references for us. Friday we´re going back and we´re going to talk with the people they talked too. Friday we went to Tuxpan for the activity we had. Got there in the morning and put everything together and BooM! Nobody came. Oh my goodness. .... it´s the same activity we did here. We put everybody in the Sacrament Room and the watched a video presentation of photography from the Savior´s life. Then in small groups they went to the first room. We put cellophane (I have NO idea how that´s spelled) like a plastic paper thing over the lights to give it a blue effect then we printed off posters of the life of Christ. Birth through resurrection. And put them all over the room, like an art exhibition. Then we had a table focused on the Atonment, Crucifiction and Resurrection. They then watched a special movie about the atonement of Jesus Christ. It´s called (The Bridge). It´s about a man and his young boy, the man is a train director, works with the bridge the train passes over to cross a bay, and his son loves the trains. They watch all the people in the train and then head over to their shift. The man raises the bridge for the boats below to pass by and the light turns red so the train stops. The train doesn´t stop. It keeps running. The bridge is raised. The boy sees the bridge up and runs to pull an emergency lever to lower the bridge, but in the process falls down the shaft into the gears of the bridge. The man in the director's room then has to decide. Save his son allowing everyone in the trian to die in the crash of the train as it derails and falls to the bay below...or pull the switch, saving the train while crushing his son in the mechanism. He pulls the switch. The sacrifice of his son, allowed hundreds of people in the train. The sacrifice of the only begotton allowed all to live. After this video all passed into another room with the lights covered to make a yellow effect. This room was covered in artwork of the Restoration. The burial, finding and translation of the Book of Mormon. We had a replica of the Gold plates, a bible opened to James 1:5 and a copy of the book of mormon. Afterwards they went to a table of materials and the members were committed to pass them to on to a friend. When we did it in Guzman a man had the ignorance and insensitivity to comment. "Well I already knew all of that, but it was a good repass. ...... ? .... It was a missionary activity. ... IT was for investigators who didn't know it. Nobody came, nobody came in Guzman either. But, all of the members in Tuxpan were shocked and surprised at the activity. Felt the power of the gospel and felt the commitment to share the gospel, the message of the sacrifice of the only begotton son of God. It was a success for this. Saturday we had to stay here in Guzman, and kind of flitted the day away. We helped out alot, and I need to open my eyes. We´ve helped alot more than I think I have. There´s a poor lady, the convert of Elder Danielson who was here, who´s dying of cancer, we visited her and are trying to get her daughter to listen. Another Hermana who´s going inactive. I´m the choir director here in Guzman and at 6:30 we had a practice. It went well.Sunday I headed out to Tamazula for the services with Elder Aulestia our little Peruvian Elder. Lol. Alot more happened than that but I just got stressed for time and am rushing now. Lol. Wow it´s not even an hour!.... oh... that´s not that special I didn´t have to read anything. Lol. We came to the ciber in the morning and I did all of that then. Lol. I should get going. It´s been hard, just for the sake of saying it. I talked with Elder Morgan, the churches social worker for Mexico (I believe). Quick note:Elder Uchtdorf says, some play ´lip service´ to the Savior but their hearts are far from him. Talked with Elder Morgan and he didn´t tell me a whole lot. Lol. He told me that I´m reacting to a situation as though there were a sabertooth tiger in the brush, I have two options. Run, or fight. I´m bracing myself to fight or getting ready to run, two dramatic options, but a sabertooth tiger that´s not actually in the brush. The expectations of the mission, the consequences of work and actions, I´m taking them to a serious serious level. It´s affected me alot. This week I relaxed and let it all go, but I got lazy, stopped obeying even. yesterday I said it´s enough and started working and obeying and the same headache and stress came back and washed over my mind as a wave on sand. Crashing and soaking in. Hardening the soft sand, sticking and making a hardened blog. No longer smoothly flowing through your fingers, no longer gently passing and making mysterious waves and patterns. It is stuck. Asi es mi mente. I am now listening to the Mormon Tabernacles Rendition of ´O Holy Night´ as performed in the First Presidency Christmas Devocional December 2009. I´m a sucker for orchestral music. It fascinates me. More than any other thing. The melodious sonate of wind and power, flowing streaming through the air causing a burning of the heart and an angelic concierto, stirring the soul from inside, you feel it reach and sing out from inside you the angel itself that possess it´s vessel of clay throws it´s voice in prayer and glory to God as the sound sways in, over and around you. Oh holy night, oh night divine! I´ve gotten a little sick of Guzman for the things that are happening. But I should brace myself to be here for CHristmas. Changes are the 20th but I think I´ll be here. It´s been hard for me to open my mouth and share the gospel. I haven´t studied that hard. I´m going to do my best. I need to change and submit myself t that merciful God whose knowledge sees all and directs us for all good. Always recur to him, always seek HIS INFINITE INTELLIGENCE! He will direct thy paths, lean not unto thy own understanding but council the Lord in all thy acts and He will direct thy paths. I will council the Lord humble myself before him and leave His work in His hands. I must learn to be a humble, obedient instrument, allowing the hand of the master to form me, while forming other beautiful things. Baptisms... converts. Tell John Delp I said hi and I can´t wait to get to know him so he can teach me to be a mechanic... I think I´ll use him to fix up a few things for me too. I want to build a go-kart. Green fire from Mario Kart: Double Dash, lol. WOO HOO! Say hi to the ward, Bishop Clanton, and tell him his humility and desire to follow the Savior is an inspiration to me and the reason that anyone sees anything in me. The Deans and the Avechuco´s also. All the recent converts. Care for them tell them my deepest Christmas wishes and desires. Tell them to be strong. Tell them to ajuantar. (Hang in there and deal with it in Spanish). Answering your questions. Elder Perez´s watch was recently broken that would be great if you send it! The shoes can wait, the ones I have already broke but I fixed them Lol. Remember, God being everlasting to everlasting sent angels to pronounce the coming of Christ. He announced it to prophets that Christ would come. President Eyring, Elder Holland says that Angels minister in these days, to us, by others and us to others. May we be sensitive to the ministering of angels in this season. The gift of giving, the gift of ministering by the tongue of angels the sound of rejoiceful singing from the heavens, be called the same. Until next week. When I have something interesting to say...lol Sorry I haven´t sent any letters. I´m still not good at that. Nothing´s changed ... Tell the guys I said hi, I still await their photos. If you´ve already sent them I believe i´ll get those on Thursday or Friday. Your son and friend and follower, Elder Jake D. Taylor