I wanted to throw my companion in the air!

Dearest Mother of mine,

Glad to hear all is well. I can imagine dad would love to hire Eden. Haha. I´m glad the package was able to arrive well. I was starting to worry about that, especially with my beautiful coat. Haha. Yeah, they gave us Spanish scriptures when we got to the MTC, so I have my own pair, all beautiful and highlighted. Haha. (Well, kinda, since I have to transfer all my highlighted scriptures from my english ones.) Please say hi to grandma for me and tell her I love her too.

Sweet mercy, alot of people here suffer from alcohol addiction. As I mentioned in my last email, that´s like the main thing we deal with in this area. It´s really depressing, however, on the flip side, to see how much the Atonement can change someone really is a beautiful thing to see. Just shows you the fruits of this gospel, such as with an investigator we have named Leo. We checked by his house on Tuesday just to see if maybe he was home, (since he went to work in another town over the weekend and he´s the one we thought was gone for good) and when I saw him through his window, I wanted to throw my companion in the air. We were having a pretty tough day, and seeing him home
just made my day because he´s reading the BOM, praying, he´s been 3 weeks sober (which is the duration we´ve known him and have been visiting him), and I just know he´s going to get baptized. (Him and his wife.)

So, despite all my ranting about my difficulties, there are some really good moments here. It´s just really hard, this week especially. We had a lot of apointments fall through and had to deal with this incident with this guy who´s been attending church in Merida but is in our area. It´s kinda complicated to explain, but in a nutshell, he´s actually in our authority as far as teaching is
concerned and the branch president wanted him to attend here before he got baptized and his baptism got postponed because of that and my companion´s had to deal with all this and it´s stressed him out really bad, especially because the guy got discouraged by all this and is taking a break from church to evaluate things. We´re just praying he´ll have a change of heart and that it´ll be alright. It´s just been
a huge cluster, but we had a really good zone conference today, so I´m excited to apply what we learned from President and Sister Garcia this week. The work is more difficult than I imagined, but there´s no doubt in my mind that the church is true. Hopefully this week will be better. Love you tons and I pray all continues to be well.

Love, Manuel

PS The Albrechts really moving to South Carolina? Btw, can you believe that last Monday marked two months since I started my mission? Haha.

(Also, the picture of me with the elders was at our zone conference. These were the elders who served in my area before me and it was fun to bond over the area together.)

This week was interesting to say the least...

 On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 4:52 PM

 Dearest Mother,

I´m glad we had that baptism as well. It was really special for him. And as for the other sister, we´re praying that her husband will be home one day so we can talk to him since that´s what the plan is. It´ll be interesting for sure. Aw man. I had no idea Elders Stringham and Chamberlain were still there. I hear Pasco´s real good to the missionaries, though, so I´m sure they´ll love it. They will be missed for sure. Aw man. I kinda had a feeling she´d pass away not to long after I left, but she´s with Heavenly Father now. She was real sweet and will be missed a ton as well. That´s way awesome about Roberto! He´ll fill in Brother Barker´s shoes well.

Well, in regards to this week, this week was interesting, to say the least. We had our first really rainy week. It´s rained before and stuff, but not like this. Oh boy. We were absolutely soaked. Haha. We went out to work after it had stopped raining, but it rained later and all throughout the day. The water in some of the streets got up to a little above our ankles. Our House of Prayer (since we don´t have a building for church due to a lack of enough tithing payers) got filled with water and we were getting the water out using these long squeegees. That was a lot of work. Haha. We had some good moments such as having a couple of good less-active lessons (one of which was a contact where we got the dad of the family to commit to baptism) but there were also some bummers. One man who was progressing real good named L... went away to the Cancun area to work. My companion made a small joke that we shouldn´t have given him a blessing because he got to excited that he went off to work. Haha. I just hope he´ll be alright/that it will only be for a short time. The other was with a less active we´ve visited before. His name is F..... and he´s an ex-missionary who fell victim to alcohol addiction for unknown reasons. He told us when we visited that he was bad because we ¨abandoned¨ him, which we didn´t because every visit, he was asleep. And then whether sober or drunk, he always tells us that he knows in regards to counsel we give him. We were even very straight with him in our chastisement during our last visit. (It was bold, but not overbearing.) And just overall, when he says he´ll commit to what we give him, he usually doesn´t actually commit. It´s just frustrating because he´s an ex-missionary and knows that what he´s doing is so wrong and that God expects more from him. I just always remember what Elder Holland said at the devotional he gave the Tuesday of my last week at the MTC. "I can´t fathom losing the shepherds." He´s a lost shepherd and it´s pretty frustrating. That´s the biggest iniquity out here and just seeing how many are being held down by alcohol addiction really just irritates me. I´m carrying on as best as I can, but sometimes it´s too much, such as with this man named M... P..., who´s addiction to this alcohol called agua ardiente is literally killing him since it´s cheaply made and it like 100% alcohol, or something like that. All the years of drinking it has caused some of his skin to come off and it´s just awful. I´m trying hard to be patient, though. It really is a hard area here, but if it´s where I´m supposed to be, than so be it. I´m doing good, though. Well, I´ll let you go now, but I hope all is well (and I´m glad to hear dad´s behaving) and I love you tons. Bye!

 Manuel

 PS Sounds good. Also, the cyber cafe we´re at is playing Barry White over these speakers and it made me laugh. Haha.

 

The guy in front of the green house is my companion and that´s our house. 

 

Also, the man is Jose, which was the first person I got to see get baptized.

 

With our Zone leaders after going on splits with them.

Querido Papi,

Pues, quería tomar este tiempo para decir feliz cumpleaños. Ya estas muy viejo, pero esta bien. Espero que todo esta bien.¿Como esta el negocio? Mami dice que la venta esta bien. Todo va bien aquí. La cosa mas difícil es la lluvia y también ay gente que son difícil para enseñar porque no quieren dejar de tomar, pero la mayoría de los cosas están bien.¿Como es el tiempo? Aquí es muy caliente, pero casi me acostumbro. Espero que todo esta bien. Te quiero mucho.

Manuel

This week has been interesting...

Hey! Thank you so much for the talk. There were some real good scriptures there and it was of consolance. You really always do know just what to do. Haha. I´m glad to hear of all the blessings that are happening at home, especially with the horse. What a scare that must have been. This week has been interesting. We had a baptism this weekend for a real cool man named Jose. He´s way solid and it was just great to see him start his journey to return to Heavenly Father´s presence. Unfortunately, we had to postpone a baptism for a sister that was supposed to get baptized this weekend too because her husband (a rather awful misogynistic man) backed on his word and said if she got baptized, he´d kick her out of the house. As much of a child of God he is, quite frankly, his hypocrisy makes my blood boil. We´ll be talking to him sometime soon to see what can be done. Aside from that, we really did have a wonderful experience. We started teaching a man named Leo we met in the street (my comp knows him) and started teaching him the Atonement because he decided he wanted to change his ways for good and he really is progressing. We came for another lesson last Saturday and he was real sick. We gave him a blessing and within the next few minutes, he was up a bit and we talked a little bit. He really wants to change and through the gospel, I know his faith will increase, if he acts in faith, because without it, he has know where else to go. That was a miracle,though. And then there was this. We saw him merrily riding his bike the next day. Just, wow. Now we just need to get him to church so he can prepare for baptism. Well, those were the main highlights for the week. Love you so much and can´t wait for next week´s email!

Manuel

PS I´m not really sure all the DearElder´s will come to Merida since
they´re mainly for the MTC. Plus, mail doesn´t come here, but it goes to the mission office in Merida, and we don´t go there often. Just thought I´d let you know. Also, I´m doing good on supplies, but I´ve realized how much I miss Oreos, Sour Patch Kids, and other American treats. Haha.(Especially since I can´t have Coke or Pepsi because mission rules.) Btw, could you send me an SD card please? I´m starting to run out of room.

This is the letter Manuel was referring to and you can click on the link to read the talk his mom sent him.

"Dearest Son,

I went to thank you so much for the birthday wishes! Thank you for thinking of me it means  a lot.

You, know its okay to feel somewhat inadequate since you have barely been in Mexico for one week. Even the greatest men in high government offices, and in the church have felt like that at one time or another. That's why I copied this conference talk from President Holland when he was first called to be an apostle of the Lord. It was April of 1994. I was two months pregnant with you so I found it very interesting, and maybe you can find some solace in his words.

All my love,

Mom"

Letter from Manuel's Mission President

Dear Santos Family,

We are pleased to inform you that Elder Santos has arrived safely in Mérida, Yucatán. We express to you our gratitude that you have prepared such a wonderful missionary. My wife and I feel very honored to have this great missionary in our mission. We will be anxiously taking care of his health physically, as well as spiritually. Trust in the Lord that He will protect him in this great work. Remember when writing, to encourage and express the feelings that the Spirit puts in your heart. Explain to him the spiritual progress that you are making while he is serving the Lord, and ask him to share with you some of his spiritual experiences. Be positive and help him focus on the mission.

These 2 years are very important for him as a missionary, future father, and leader in the church. He will have great experiences, many challenges and temptations that he will encounter for afflictions, but just as the Lord comforted Joseph Smith by saying these words of comfort “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for their good,” he also will learn from his own experiences.

Encourage him to press onward and support him in the difficult times. The life of a missionary is not easy, and one should not think it is, but by trusting in the tender mercies of the Savior, He will make our burdens light.
 
We love you very much, and please have confidence that your son is in the best hands, the hands of the Lord and that He has assigned us to this mission at this specific time so that we can care for him. He will be our son and as our son we will love him and will be mindful of all his needs. Our Redeemer promises great blessings for His missionaries if they are faithful, endure to the end, and keep their eye single to the glory of God: “And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither thirst.” D&C 84:80
 
We send you our sincere greetings and a big hug.
 
Sincerely,
President and Sister García
Mission Mexico Merida

I got here safe and am alright...

Dear mom,

Thank you so much for the information you sent me regarding my card. I´ll see what I can do regarding that since it is collect and I don´t know if I´m supposed to do that with the mission phone. Since I´m in the mission now, my p-days are Mondays now, but I was allowed to mail today to let you know that I got here safe and am alright. Unfortunately, I don´t have pictures to send you because I need a cable for my camera that I left at our house, so I´ll send you some next week. My companion is an American named Elder Wilcox and he´s a real good trainer. My area is a little place called Tixcocob. You´d love the vegetation here. The people are all very nice and humble. The majority are Catholic, so we´ll see what we can do. There are some active members, but the rest are inactive and we meet in a small building for church, so it´s just a house of prayer since there aren´t enough who pay tithing for us to have an actual building. We´ll see what we can do with that as well. Just to update a bit, the president and his wife are really nice people. They met us at the airport and then we ate Subway for dinner. We went back to the mission office and all of the new Elders and Hermanas went elsewhere to sleep for the night. We slept in the home of the assistants. My hammock was wonderful. (I get my own, just so you know.) The next day we had an interesting experience as we went to the mission home for breakfast. We were told that we had to give a Book of Mormon to the taxi driver on our way there. It worked out. He already had one, but we gave him specific things to read. Later, we were told some things to be aware of in the mission, such as the mission rules and goals. It seems a bit strict, but oh well. It´s nothing that worries me in regards to conduct. The music is just a bit limited for my taste, but I don´t have any, so no big. I can´t remember exactly what exactly all the goals of excellence are, but this one I remember for sure: we´re to baptize every week. There was already one set up for this Sunday, so it´s likely I´ll be doing it, I think. It´s an exciting goal which requires much diligence. My trainer is very good about being able to merge things into a gospel conversation with anyone, so I hope to get to that point. So far, we´ve just been teaching members and less actives since It´s been a weird week so far with the scheduling of things. Yesterday, I went on splits with another missionary because our companions had a meeting in Merida, so I served in a place called Canek. It was a good experience to teach the members and less-actives. It´s a tough area because few members help with missionary work, but I hope to serve there sometime. Please tell dad I was sorry I couldn´t call him. When I was going to after I was done talking to you, we had to board our flight to Mexico. Please tell him hi for me. I don´t know how letter writing will work while I´m here since I have no idea where a post office is, but we´ll see how that works, but just in case, I might not write for about 12 weeks while I´m here, but I will email. I´m really glad to be here. It´s a bit tough waking up in the mornings because I´m still just adjusting to being in the mission, but once I get going, I feel good and I really enjoy working with my companion and also just serving the members or whoever we may be teaching. Keep me in your prayers, though, because I´m still having a hard time just adjusting and stuff since this for sure isn´t home. Please say hi to everyone for me. Love you tons!

Elder Santos

I'm excited, yet I'm fearing it at the same time...

Hey Mom! (Written 5/8)
Things are going well over here. This week for our Tuesday devotional, we had Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speak to us. That was a real treat for sure and the words were so inspiring. Overall, the main messages were that the decision we've made is one of the most correct decisions we've ever made and that while we're here, we need to make it an experience that will truly memorable and worthwhile, in the sense that it's something that truly changes us. That hit me pretty hard, especially with the mixed feelings I've had in realizing that next Monday, I'll be arriving in the mission field. I'm excited, yet I'm fearing it at the same time. My faith has increased so much, though, and I'm really just holding on to that. I've really seen the improvement in myself and my companionship this past week. We've gelled well and stuff, but throughout, we found ourselves having too much fun. Thankfully, the chastisement of the spirit is something that is truly incredible and we've allowed it to help direct us to know what we needed to change. We've also been filled with the spirit more often. Our lessons have gotten better and we've been united in our teaching. Working with the spirit and acting upon it really is a necessity. I'm glad Cinco de Mayo went well. Oh! For Mother's Day, we'll be calling from 1:30-2 PM your time. This is the first time the MTC has done this, so this is really a unique time to be here. We'll get to call from the airport the next day (I heard), so hopefully I'll have more info by Sunday. I sent grandma a mother's day card, so hopefully it will arrive before then. Well, I hope all is well. I love you all so much. I'm going to try hard to trust in the Lord as did Nephi in 2 Nephi 4: 33-35. The next time I'll email is in Mexico, so bye till then. Love you and can't wait till Sunday!

Manuel (Elder Santos)

Another short email...I'm real busy with class and things...

Hey mom!

How is everything? Thank you for your encouraging messages. This weeks
email will be short because my companion has a dentist's appointment,
but just a real quick recap, we had D. Todd Christofferson speak to us
this week in regards to how important it is that the Lord trusts us. It
was really good. I'm also a district leader now, so my time as a zone
leader is over, but I do love my district, so this is no problem
whatsoever. I also got my travel plans today, so a week from Monday, I
fly out from Salt Lake at 7 AM and will get to Merida by 7 PM. Long day.
Haha. Well, I'm sorry this was short, but I do have to go now. I'll try
to write home this week so I can share some spiritual experiences and
let you know all is well, so please tell dad to be patient since I'm
real busy with class and things. I hope all is well and I love you so
much.

Elder Santos