The Field is White...: New Companion

Sorry so slow on the post this week - we were out of town again. It's a great email with picutres too!

Hey Fam how is everybody? Everything is going well down here. This week I've recieved some good news. I don't know if you remember me talking about Pancho, the little kids that I baptized in Uruapan. I knew he was going to be a huge influence on his family. Anyway, at the time I left Uruapan, him and his Grandmother were the only two members of the church in their family. Their whole family is super awesome, but they never really wanted to come to church or read the Book of Mormon, because they're members of another Christian Church. The Grandpa was especially friendly, and always participated alot in the family nights and stuff. He also had a taco stand at his house so he'd give us free food all the time. He was one of the coolest people I met while in Uruapan, but he was also very set on keeping his sons from seriously listening to us. His sons aren't as religious as him, but that was their excuse for not wanting to listen to us. It was kind of sad because they all had family and alcohol problems, but they didn't want to get very involved in their dad's church, and they used his church as an excuse to not get involved in our church. Anyway, since I left Uruapan, almost all of Pancho's brothers and sisters have been baptized, and I just found out that his Grandpa is deciding to get baptized as well. That's going to help that family a ton. Now there will be no excuse whatsoever for his sons to avoid coming closer to Christ. I talked to Elder Ramirez the other day as well, when he stopped by the offices (the Elder Ramirez that I was with in Zamora). He let me know that Fabian's kids and their cousin just got baptized as well, and their mom even came to the baptism to support them! Awesome.

So the secretary stuff is going fine. This week was a little hectic. President asked me to set some appointments for him at certain times with some of the stake presidents in the city. So I did. I made the mistake afterward of just supposing that President Jesperson must have known what time to get there, since he'd told me what time to make the appointments. He, obviously, was awaiting my call to confirm the appointments, which never came. So two stake presidents were left waiting for their meetings on Sunday, and one of them had sent out an e mail to all of his bishops and stake leaders, so that they could come to the meeting with Pres. Jesperson as well.... oops. Anyway, that's been the joke around the offices this week. My bad. Pres. Jesperson called me a couple nights ago though to tell me that he called each of the stake presidents and got everything sorted out, and that he made way more mistakes than me when he started out with stuff like this. So that made me feel a little better about it. President is a great guy.

Our investigators are doing well. We're teaching Cristian, Ariel, Gael, and Paty, the Hernandez family. All of the kids have a baptismal date, but the mom (Paty) still doesn't . They love the Book of Mormon, and they all understand it really well. They're also inviting some friends to come to the appointment we have with them tonight. They're family is in a tough spot. The mom and dad are divorced I think, so the dad doesn't live there. The mom has had some major back problems, and has had to have a couple of surgeries. Also, the place she works at was going out of business for a while, and they haven't paid any of their workers in a month and a half, so her lack of income has forced the two older kids (Crisitian and Ariel) to find jobs to be able to sustain the family. Cristian is 16 and Ariel is 18. That's alot of responsibility weighing on some young shoulders. They're progressing well in the gospel though.

Gloria came to church. She was way excited to go in the morning. After Sacrament Meeting she just took off. She was not impressed. It was so weird. It was the first time since I've been out on the mission that I've seen someone not enjoy their first time in church. We went to visit her and try to clear up some questions or doubts, and it looks like she won't be progressing any more.

Fernando the carpenter on the other hand, is doing awesome. He loves learning about the gospel. He still gets kind of fidgety when we talk about baptism, but he's progressing really well. He loves the Book of Mormon. He's read the Bible quite a bit, and he's also read all kinds of psychology and theology books, and has gathered a pretty broad variety of viewpoints and opinions. He told us yesterday that out of all the things he's studied and read, nothing has touched him like the Book of Mormon. He said that when he reads it, he just feels good, and things start to make sense. Sweet. He's really excited to learn about prophets right now. We're going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with him, He should enjoy it.

Well, we had some changes in the offices this week. Elder Galindo's replacement got here. It's Elder Olson, I don't know if I'd mentioned him before, but he was in the same house in Zamora with me. He reminds me a ton of Braden Wamsley. haha. Him and I are companions now, and I'm enjoying that. He's a super missionary.

Gram- Thanks for your e mail with the updates and stuff Gram. Always greatly appreciated. I really liked the story of the little boy who left his papers in California as well. Thanks for sharing that with me. Love ya! Have a great week!

Bam - Thanks also for the updates Bam. Time is flying by fast. Hopefully your camera gets fixed soon so you can get those photos out before I'm home. haha. Just kidding. Love ya! Have a great week!

Mom- I got the Brother Lauber e mail. It's good to hear from him. I got your dear elder as well. It was cool to hear about Eddie's wedding and stuff. That's awesome that Tanner's heading out. When you see him at his farewell let him know that I'll be writing him like 1000s of dear elders when I get home. haha. About the package. I really can't think of anything that I need. Everythings in order. Like I mentioned before, it wouldn't hurt to have a restock of contacts, because I'll run out like two months before I get home. But I do have glasses so it's not super urgent. I'm attaching the pictures from the baptism of Fabians kids (their family is on the far right of the group picture), even though I'm not in them, along with some other pictures that Elder Ramirez passed me from when we were together, from when we were in the field working, when we ate lunch in an old abondoned van because of a thunderstorm, and when we helped some members shovel some gravel in their garage. I can't remember if I had already sent them or not. There's also some pictures of Elder Olson and I from when we left Zamora on the same day. Thanks for everything mom. You're the greatest. Love ya! Have a great week!

Nay- How's college? That's super weird. I guess one of the ward missionaries from the ward I'm in right now added you on facebook. He took a picture with me to show you or something. His name is Chris. He's super sweet, he's gonna be an awesome missionary. He helps us do splits and stuff all the time. Anyway, let me know how things go up at USU. Love ya! Have a great week!

Dig- Crazy bike stuff man. How's school? You're in eighth grade right? How's the social life? I remember my days at kennedy as some of the most exciting with friends and stuff. Do you have any sweet classes? Anyway, have an awesome week Dig. Stay strong. Love ya! Have a great week!

Den- So what's musical keyboarding? I've never heard of that. How's quest going? You'll have to let me know what the IP project is going to be this year. That's crazy that you're in Junior High denny. Is the lunch better there than at Farnsworth? Or is it kinda the same? Love ya! Have a great week!

Dad- That advice from President Meservy was sweet. I love that concept. I think about it alot when we're contacting and teaching. You really have to get to know a person to understand their great worth. The world's standards just don't do anybody any justice. So is Pat's Barbecue good? That's one of the things that you cannot find in Mexico. Barbecue. They don't even have barbecue chips here. haha. I was thinking about that time when we went to that sweet italian delhi before I left. I think I'm going to go there frequently when I get home, maybe I'll run into Pres. Monson when he's visiting. That'd be sooo cool. I wonder what sandwich he'd order. Probably the best one. haha. Anyway, miss ya dad. Love ya! Have a great week!

Shash - Your teacher's on vacation for the first three weeks of school? That's too bad. Is it going to be the same substitute teacher the whole time or are they going to change out? I remember I use to like when subs came, but for three weeks, that's pretty long. haha. Oh, before I forget... HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEXT WEDNESDAY!!! Have a great birthday ok? Tell me all about how it goes. Love ya! Have a great week!

Love you all!
Elder Aguilar