Week 68 - 'Twas the Nizzle before Christmizzle...

Today has been pretty tranquil. We spent the whole day playing the board (card) games that I got from Christmas. The APs (Assistants to the President) and the secretaries played with us. It was a blast. Everyone got pretty hooked. We're all very thankful for the gifts from home.

Little Caesar's Pizza with Elder Maldonado

I honestly haven't felt super Christmassy this week. We had our mission Christmas party a week ago. The only Christmas thing that I'm missing is the Christmas phone call. We'll see you guys tomorrow. 

Week 67 - Merry Christmas to All!

This week we had our Christmas party with the whole mission! We sang a special musical number and it was awesome! This week has been a little hard because Elder Pacheco hasn't felt good at all this week...

Cuernavaca Zone at the Christmas Conference, December 14, 2018

Week 66 - White Boy Trio

To start off, I want to say goodbye to Elder Schmitz, who will be finishing his mission and going back to Firestone, Colorado on Wednesday. I salute you.

Last p-day with Elder Schmitz (middle) and new companion, Elder Pacheco.

Week 65 - Rain Week

There's a big cold front hitting the mission this week, so it has been raining pretty hard and my companion got a little sick. We couldn't do a ton of stuff this week, but we did okay.

Mission injury

Our investigator Karla passed her baptismal interview, so she should be ready to get baptized on Saturday. She might have a few problems, but we'll work through it.

We had stake conference yesterday, for the Cuernavaca Stake. I've been to every single stake conference in this stake since I got here. It was really good. 

We heard from an area seventy and from President Treviño. President Treviño talked about how important members are to missionary work, and how it's essential that members preach the gospel to their friends and people who are important to them. "If you have friends who aren't members of the Church, invite them because you love them, and they are important to you, and you want the best for them.

Week 64 - Turkey Week

This week was Thanksgiving, and all the Americans in the zone celebrated in the visitor's house in true Mexican style. With tacos. We ordered 1.5 kilos of taco meat for the five Americans and the one Guatamalan who were there.

Zone Thanksgiving

We also celebrated in our English Class with pumpkin pie. Not many people here knew why we celebrate thanksgiving, or why tortillas aren't on the menu. 

Week 63 - Normal Week

Between Altavista and San Antón

Hey guys. Not much really cool stuff happened this week. Sorry. There have to be less eventful weeks so that the eventful ones really pack a punch.

I went on divisions to an area called Vista Hermosa this week. I went with elder Oliva, an elder that got here at the same time as me!

WE had interviews and a multi-zone conference this week too. I love getting the whole zone together and talking with president. President gave me some really good information about how to magnify my calling as a Zone Leader, and what is expected of me. 

Week 62 - Atzinger

We had a good week this week. Not a lot to talk about, honestly. This area is pretty small. We end up just going to the same places all the time, because we only have like ten colonias. But it's fun. Elder Schmitz likes to have fun, and we're finding some good people. I hope we can keep it up.

The two biggest parts of our area are called Altavista and San Anton, but in order to get from one to the other, you can pay money, or go down 150 stairs, then go up 237 stairs. We take a lot of busses.

The path between San Anton and Altavista (note the stairs)

Week 61 - Sorry to make you wait...

...but I extended the time I'm gonna be out. See you Sept. 30th.

This week with Elder Schmitz has been super fun. We got money for the food on tuesay so we grilled hambergers on our makeshift grill. We got talking about metal and decided to copper plate an oil vial we found. you can see the results in the picture below.

My area is called Atzingo. I'm in the north part of Cuernavaca this time, and It's definitely a lot colder. i can finally start using that jacket I bought. Our area has a lot of hills, and is pretty small actually. We have a lot of area we can't even use. We stick to the same streets pertty often. Luckily, i have come to this area 3 or four times for divisions with the Zone Leaders, so a lot of people know me already. It's been pretty cool seeing people that I had taught in divisions that are now members of the church. I think I'll like this ward. It's also the only building in the mission with a real organ! 

Week 60 - Going Back Home...

. . . not to Utah, but to Cuernavaca. 

An old fabric factory in Atoyac, Acapulco Zone

I got changes! I-m pretty sad I didnt get the chance to finish Elder Zettens training. Hes honestly been one of my favortie companions. Hes going to be staying in Atoyac, and I got sent up to Cuernavaca... again. Im going to be the Zone Leader up here with Elder Schmitz. He's from Firestone, Colorado. He and I both have a collective 17 months in cuernavaca. It's his last change, too, entonces me tocó matarlo. I'm pretty excited for this change. I'm hoping it goes as well as it could.

Week 59 - Jardín and Rainy days.

So. I'm going to be honest. Number-wise, this has been one of the worst weeks of my mission. In the last 7 days, we've had maybe a day and a half we could work here because of rain. But I'm having a pretty fun time. 

I've had time this week to practice piano, something I hardly ever get to do; we started an English class, and that was actually pretty fun; and today, to celebrate Elder Ortiz's(My trainer's) last P-day, we had a waterballoon fight. We had a pretty decent time.

Week 58 - La Quebrada, Rained out, and Divisions

Tag pic above the beach in Acapulco

This week we didn't do much. We've stopped seeing a ton of success here, but it still goes. I love it, and it's been really fun with Elder Zetten. He's a great companion, and he never complains about anything. He just buckles down and does it.

Waiting out the monsoonal rainstorm

We were trying to go to an appointment on Thursday, but it started to rain. As it rains every day, we weren't too worried and went anyways. But this time was so much worse. Instead  of going to the lesson, we sat underneath a little shack we found for an hour until th rain let up. There was so much rain! People's cars were turning off, because water was getting inside. The streets FLOOD here.

Week 57 - General Conference Weekend

It was a pretty decent week this week. We got a lot done this week. We got a few investigators on track for baptism this week that we've been working with for a little while. We're working on a lot of plans for them. Wish us luck.  

General Conference with everyone who came on time!

We had General Conference this week. I really like that the church is focusing a lot more on the teaching in the home. I'm excited for the changes. I loved conference. Especially Elder Oaks' talk about the Plan of Salvation. It was really bold and straightforward.

It rained really hard on Sunday, and some of the water got in the church, and broke through the ceilings of some of the rooms, so we had to do some rescue on that.

It rained really hard, and Atoyac is built so that all
the runoff runs through the two main streets.
This is a picture.

Week 56 - Hyped up for a great week

Sorry I don't have any of my own pictures this week. I left my camera with the zone leaders in Acapulco. Sorry.

We had a pretty decent week this week. Nothing crazy happened, but nobody came to church. The president of Atoyac is a member, and she just barely gort put into office yesterday. Almost all of our investigators/members are family or political friends with her, so we started church with 13 people. (we usually start with 60) and we ended with 31. It was quite an adventure.

We had a great little meeting with president where he taught us the importance of being great missionaries and he really hyped us up for this week. Elder Zetten and I are going to have a great week.

That's about all I got. I hope your weeks were enjoyable too.

All of Alma chapter 57 is a great story of faith. I liked it a lot, and it has helped our mission a lot.

-Elder Scott

Week 55 - Genesis 1:3

This week, we finally got light back! WOO no more having to sleep in the Branch President's office on the floor! 

Our empty refrigerator after 20 days without power

There's not a whole lot new that we did this week. We were going to have a couple people in the church on Sunday, but they weren't able to make it because they got sick. We'll hope that next week we'll be able to get some investigators progressing again.

This Sunday, we went to eat with some members that live a little far away, and while we were eating, it started to rain really hard. So hard that we couldn't leave the house. we were stuck there and we had to call the Brach President's wife to come fish us out with her truck. We had to stay inside the rest of the day, because, even though the mission provides us with a lot of stuff, they do not provide us with canoes.

Week 54 - Training, training, training!

Mexican Independence Day

So Elder Madueño went off to Iguala to go be a Zone Leader, And on Monday,I went up to Cuernavaca to go get my new trainee. His name is Elder Zetten. He's from Guatemala. We're going to be in Atoyac until December (probably) and we're pretty excited. I'm going to have almost a year with straight latino companions!

My new trainee, Elder Zetten

Week 53 - Stake Conference, and Acapulco!

Me with a turtle we found in Acapulco

This week was really cool, but it was also pretty rough. We came home one day and there was no power in the house, meaning we lost all the food we had just bought, we had no light, and no fans or air conditioning. That was pretty rough. I get so hot at night that we couldn't even sleep  for three nights in a row. We jsut sat in bed and waited to fall asleep. Every hour, Elder Madueño's watch beeped, we just groaned, and then waited until his watch beeped a hour later only to groan again. How fun.

Vista Allegre and Atoyac conference with the temple president.

this Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference. It was really good. It was all about ministering and helping one another. President Treviño came, as well as the Temple President for the Mexico City Temple. It was a great conference.

View of Acapulco

Divisions with Elder Bolster

After the conference, we didn't have time to go back to Atoyac, so we went on divisions with the Elders in Vista Alegre. I went with Elder Bolster from California. He has about 17 months in the mission, and he was really fun to head out with. 

At night, I got a call from the Assistants, and found out I'm going to be training in Atoyac nest Change. I'm going to be helping out a brand new missionary next week. I probably won't write until tuesday, But I'm excited.

See ya next week!

-Elder Scott

Week 52 - Baptisms!

This week was really great! We had the baptism of Jr. and Kevin! They were super pumped, and their parents came to the services. They also came for their conformation, and now that they've come to the church once, I don't think they'll stop coming. they lived in the United States for a long time, and they met the missionaries there. They will be a great addition to the ward once they get married and baptized!

 Our investigator Guadalupe is pregressing really well. His wife feels really good about it all too, even though she's already a member. She's having a little re-conversion of her own. She shared her experience with her son, and he came to church and said he would also like to get baptized. We're going to have a lesson with him on tuesday to give him a baptismal date!

Elder Madueño and I are working real good here in Atoyac. the distance from Acapulco can be difficult sometimes, but we make it work. We're getting better every day and doing the Lords work here in Guerrero. I know the Lord's looking out for us here, and that If something happens to me, it's because it needs to be like that.

I love the time we have to study and learn to be better missionaries. I've learned a lot this week, to improve myself physically and mentally to share the gospel better and more efficiently. Oh, and next week we're going to meet with Elder Pino, the general authority of the Área of México or something like that. i'm pretty excited. We'll see what happens next wednesday. 

Love you, and have a great Labor day!

Week 51 - Best P-Day Ever

It wasn't.

This week, not a ton of stuff happened. Our main three investigators, Kevin, Junior, and Guadalupe, and progressing just fine. Kevin and Junior should be able to get baptized on Friday. I hope everything goes well.

Elder Madueño and I stretching our legs during the protest

This week on thursday, it rained super hard. Like we lost power in the entire pueblo for 6 hours, from 8:30 until about 2:30 in the morning. And we lost cell service until the next morning. There was no way to tell the Zone Leaders that we were all home. It was insane. Check the video I include in this email to see how crazy it was.

Also, this P-day was a little rough. Here in Atoyac, we are 2 hours outside of Acapulco, where we have to go to do our district meetings and all our stuff for our one day a week we can rest. Well, today, about 45 minutes outside of Atoyac, there was a little town that started a protest. And here in México, if you want to protest in a small town on the side of the highway, the best way to do it would be to park your car perpendicular to the road, and sit there, not letting anyone pass until a government offical comes to work with you. Well, that happened to us, and we sat for almost two hours on the highway, waiting for a goverment offficial to show up and let us pass. It sucked. We ended up no getting to acapulco until 11:00, and the whole day was pretty much wasted, because there wasn't time to do anything. Other than eat and write. It kinda sucked. We'll hope for the best next week.

Week 50 - Pizza Day!

So we didn't do much this week, but on Saturday, we had a youth activity in the branch and made pizza. It was super fun, and a lot of people participated. The branch hardly ever does activities, so they were all for it whan we said we wanted to do it again next week. And they told us not to worry about budget, because they've hardly spent anything on activities, and it's more than halfway through the year. Elder Madueño and I are having a lot of success this week. 

Week 49 - Coming in with a Bang!

Elder Madueño and I hit the ground running this week. I came into the Branch of Atoyac thinking that we weren't going to do much, or that it would be really difficult, but it's not like that at all. We're working super hard, and having a lot of success! Let's hope that it stays that way!

A bird in the hand

So my companion is another Norteño. Every mexican companion I've had has been from the North, and Elder Madueño tells me I talk with a Northern Mexico Accent. I'm getting pretty alright at my spanish at this point. I'm pretty proud of it.

So, my area is MASSIVE. Seriously, we take a bus for an hour and we still don't leave the area. It's super awesome, but it's also not that great. We spend a lot of Money in this area on transport, and I'm the District Leader, so any time I have to do a baptismal interview, we have a take a two hour bus to get to the interview. and it's 70 pesos in each direction. We're travelling all the time. And it's pretty hot here. And it rains even harder than it did in Morelos, and there it rains way more than at home. 

Week 48 - After 7 Transfers in the Same Area . . .

. . . I got changed!

So, first, I was pretty sure this was my last change, so we put in a ton of work this week, but I was also saying goodbye. Saturday, I got the call that I would be having changes, We didn't do a whole lot until Sunday, but Sunday was awesome. 

Making bean dip with Elder Covarrubias

I spent the day saying goodbye and taking pictures with the members. They announced in Elder's Quorum that I'd be heading out, and the whole ward said goodbye to me. It was cool. We were feeling bad, because we really weren't having the success we were hoping for in this transfer, but the ward members told us that they hadn't even noticed, because we had a lot of activities, and we really bonded as a ward. It was a great time.

We also made the bean dip that my mom always makes, but with slightly different ingredients, with the Bishop and his family. I didn't think they'd like it, but they loved it. They couldn't stop eating it. The bishop told me he'd never tasted anything like it before, so they took the recipe, and they're going to Mexicanize it real good.

Posing with the bishop and his family in Burgos

Elder Covarrubias and I eating tacos that a member made
for us.  I had never eaten tacos de champiñones.

So, changes. I got changed to Zona Acapulco, in a branch. I'll be in the area Atoyac, which is about 2 hours outside of Acapulco, and my companion is named Elder Madueño. He's from Sinaloa, México. I'm pretty excited to be the District Leader out here. Especially because I'm in a place I've never been to before. It's super awesome, but it gets really, really hot. I was sweating after 10 minutes. Luckily, it rained a little bit when I got here. Also, My trainer, Elder Ortiz, is going to be my Zone Leader this change. I'm super pumped. I can't wait to see what happens this change.

The view from our house in Vista Alegre

I love the Church, and I love this gospel. This place is super cool. I'm learning a lot, and I've lot 41 pounds in total since I started the mission last September. Ya boi's lookin good.

¡Nos Vemos pronto!

Week 47 - Pictures Week

July 30

We didn't do anything new this week. it's pretty same old. But I bought a cable for my camera, So I figured I'd just send a few pictures home. Next week is changes, so hopefully I'll have some news for you guys next week.

Zone hike last p-day with Elder Contreras, a former companion 

Week 46 - Tepoztlán!

July 23

This week has been really great. Elder Covarrubias and I are putting in a bunch of work in Burgos. Sadly, we aren't seeing the results we were hoping for. We were hoping for someone to be in church this week. But, alas, it didn't happen.

Gabe sent no photos this week, but we saw this one from another
missionary mom.  These are some of the Elders who were in the
Mexico MTC together.

Week 45 - Meeting Goals

July 16

Meeting goals is really hard. We're trying, and getting some good results.

Elder Covarrubias is from Mexico and has been serving for 3 months.

We only have two people with a baptismal date right now, and at first we were a little disappointed when we did our planning and saw that number. But we found a ton of new people to teach and help progress. We've been teaching a lot of the same people for a while, and this week, we decided to follow the counsel of President Treviño and Get 18 references every day. We never actually got to 18 every day, but we got really close a few days. We've got plenty to do for this week.

Week 44 - Pres. Treviño is here, and that sure is clear

July 9

We had to drop a lot of people from enseñanza this week, because they weren't progressing, and none of them came to church ever. Whoops.

This week, not a ton happened, but President Treviño is making a lot of changes, for sure. He's really cracking down on obedience and working hard. He changed a lot of stuff about the schedule and the times we get up and get home, all that good stuff. We have our MultiZone Conference this week, and it's gonna be pretty cool. We'll see how it goes.

We had all the Elders and Hermanas from Zona Galeana come up to play bowling with us in Cuerna, and that was super fun. I have played better, but that's fine. We had a good time, also. It's cool getting to see the people you don't see very often.

This week we've been sharing 1 Nefi 16 with our investigators, especially verse 29 at the end. That for little things, the Lord can bring to pass big things. We can't expect the Lord to give us the big things if we can't even do the little things like read, pray and go to church. We always need to be doing what God has Commanded us first, before he'll give us new things that require more trust and faith. Nefi did all the things he was supposed to, even when the prophet didnt. Thats waht makes him such a great example.

Thats all I got this week. Love you guys and hope you all have  a great week.

~Elder Scott

Week 43 - My First Week with Superman

July 2

We had a pretty decent time this week. Elder Covarrubias is super relaxed, and he just wants to get stuff done. We've been working hard in finding some new people.

Jorge and Nayeli dropped us this week, and that was rough. Better luck next time, Elders.

We had a Baptism on Saturday! It was supposed to start at 3, but didn't end up starting until 4, and the mom of this little girl was super upset. She was so upset, she wouldn't even let us take a picture with her daughter for her own baptism. So, that's one baptism down, but without pictures. Qué sad.

I'm really getting along with Elder Covarrubias. He's super cool, and this week I've been teaching him the area. He learns fast, and he teaches really well with me. His last companion wasn't all that willing to work, so he's thrilled to be doing some basic missionary work.

I was talking to Elder C. the other day, and asked what his name is. He said that usually people call him Marcelo, but his second name is way cooler, but only people he gets along with can call him by it. His name is Kal-El. Like Superman. So thats pretty sick.

We got to meet president Treviño today, and he's pretty cool. I don't know much about him, but I do know that he's from Monterrey, and he's coming to my district meeting tonight. 

That's all I've got this week. I hope that it was enough to satisfy.

Stay at least ok.

~Elder Scott

Week 42 - A Proud Father

12 Weeks training Elder Rivas went by fast!  He is moving on.

June 25

This week, we found some great new investigators named Jorge and Nayeli, and even though they couldn't come to church this week, that doesn't mean they aren't progressing. They're doing awesome! And they're already married, which is a huge thing here. Nobody likes to get married for real here.

We had 2 investigators at church this week, and we have a baptism on Saturday. It's practically a free baptism, but it is one nonetheless.  We're rocking it.

Three generations

Elder Rivas and I got a call for the Assistants on wednesday, saying that Elder Rivas was gonna train! Right after his training. We thought he was going to stay in Burgos and I would go, but he's going to go open area in Acapulco. I'll be chilling here another change. Heck, one more, and I'll hit the year mark without ever leaving the Zone.

The mission is officially too dangerous for female, american missionaries. All the ones that were coming in are getting changed, and the Hermanas here, who knows what'll happen to them. They might get transfered soon, or they might just stay here in Cuernavaca the whole time. 

I'm doing fine. Please don't feel sad for me because i've been here a while. I like it here, and it's just beginning to cool down and rain a lot more. If there's any time to be in Cuerna, it's right now. I'm doing just great.

Week 41 - Last Week of Training!

June 18, 2018

Believe it or not, I've been training Elder Rivas for almost 12 weeks, and he's a champ! We're doing great out here in Burgos. Our Investigators are alright, but we're having a lot of fun.

Saturday we did divisions with the Zone Leaders, Elders Contreras and Hanberg. It was super fun to go out and be a missionary with my trainer again, and Elder Hanberg Taught me a ton. It was a party, and I had a great time.

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! Really, it made my day! (Today) A family in the ward gave me a tie yesterday, and the Elders Quorum sang Happy Birthday, in English! We ate with the Elder's Quorum President, and he and his wife made us super good enchiladas verdes! They were awesome. We finished off the night with some Birthday floats, with coke. Latinos are not really big fans of icecream and soda, but they'll put up with it for their white companions.

Week 40 - Back to the hospital

We really wanted ​​To have people at church. I promise.

Selfie with President and Hermana Ávila, (and their son Sami) in the hospital with us.

This week was really whatever. We have an investigator ​​named rosendo, and we've ben working so hard with him, and he just doesn't put in his part, and he doesn't come to church and cancels lessons at the last second. Its frustrating, especially because he wants us to invite members and everything, and so members just chill with us in the chapel until he cancels on us, but he's so ready and eager to hear us. It's really a struggle to figure out what we want to do with him.

Week 39- Ups and Downs

First of all, Happy birthday to the #1 Guy, Logan Bee! Have a great one, pal!

(Happy birthday to Bethany also)

This week we worked really hard, honestly. We put members in every lesson we could. We brought people all over the place. We set goals and plans with almost all of our investigators, and we were expecting maybe 7 or 8 people in the church. And no one showed up. We passed by for a few of them, and none of them decided to come. They all had made other plans or had left already for something else. It was really difficult, especially because we felt like we had worked harder this week than any other week together. We've made some plans to improve still, but man it's really disappointing when things don't happen the way you thought they would.

Week 38 - Sandwiches get you investigators

We've been teaching these two guys that we met buying sandwiches, and they're super cool, and they're feeling really good about their baptismal date. We're hoping all goes well with them.

We bought 2 kgs of hot dogs because we didn't want to keep leaving the house to go buy food. When it rains, you need to protect your hot dogs.​

Elder Rivas protecting the hot dogs

Week 37 - Bowling Champion

Ok, so this week's a short one.  Our taxi took us to the Other Side of Centro, so we lost about an hour of writing time.

This week has been fine, and the only problem that we have is that nobody comes to church. It's fine. It's only frustrating in the moment. But we have been buying a lot of World Cup Keychains. (See Below) We almost have all of them. We're only missing 4 of them.

World Cup Keychains we're collecting

Week 36 - No Regrets

So we have changes today. I'm staying in Burgos with Elder Rivas! And now I'm the District Leader. How cool!

We really didn't do hardly anything this week. Pretty much all our citas fell through, and we've been having the hardest time with finding new investigators, so it's been pretty slow. We're working with our Zone Leaders to improve our finding skills. I hope we can find some stronger investigators. Sometimes we just feel like we're burning up time.

Calling home was pretty sweet. It was a little hard because the camera died on the laptop I was using, but I got to talk to the family anyways, and that was really the most important part. I love being out here, and calling my family wasn't as distracting of an experience as I thought it would be. It was actually really enriching, and helped me remember why I'm out here.

Week 35 - I Hold the Mission Record for Being Robbed

We got robbed again, but this time, with a pistol.

I wish that was a Joke.

We were out with a member André again, and all of our citas fell through. We went looking for a reference in a colonia called "Las Cumbres" that if very ugly. (Before you think to yourself that I should avoid ugly colonia, you should remember that Pretty much all of México is ugly). We stopped to look at something. Next thing you know, a guy runs up to Elder Rivas, putsa pistol up against his back, and demands his money. Then he took my money, and searched my bag for a solid minute and a half. 

I'm very lucky that he didn't take my camera. He didn't even give André a second look. He left going one way, and told us to go down the other way. I forgot to pull the money we had pulled from the bank the day before, so I lost $1100 pesos ($55) and Elder Rivas lost about $200 pesos($10).

Week 34 - Finding and Service

This week was pretty awesome but also really hard.

The first 3 days of the week we taught very little and no one wanted to hear us. We had a cool lesson with our investigator Maritza and her family, and even planned a Family Home Evening with them. But then they canceled. And again, and again. Almost all of our investigators flaked on us in one form or another. But on Friday, we went on Divisions with Elder Fernández here in Burgos, and we had the bapismal interview for an investigator named Margarita. She's getting baptized on the 5th of May. We also put all of our investigators with a baptismal date, and they're all progressing really well.

On Friday, we went to teach a lesson to an investigator named Carlos. He owns a little shop and a tortillería.When we got there, he told us he didn't have time to meet with us because his workers didn't show up, and he had to figure out how to use the Tortilla machine he had. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours helping him figure out how to use it. Good thing Elder Rivas already has almost three years of studying to be and Industrial Engineer, because Carlos and I were learning as he spoke. After that, he gave us Queso de rancho to eat with some tortillas. Tortillas for me right now is more normal than bread. They eat them with everything. Even spaghetti. I'll probably never arrive to the point where i can't eat spaghetti without tortillas, but México is definitely having an affect on me.

Week 33 - Small Miracles

(NOTE:  Gabe and his companion reopened an area that had previously been closed, so they are starting from scratch finding people to teach.)

This week has been pretty bland, but with some nice touches. We spent almost every day contacting and looking for people, with no luck. Most people are pretty content being Catholic here. 

Our poorly rigged volleyball net

But while we were contacting, a lady passed by and asked us where the church was because she was visiting for a few weeks, and she was a member. She and her son invited us to their house to give someone a blessing. The person we gave the blessing to wasn't actually a member, and so we taught a lot about Priesthood authority. They came to a sports activity in the church later that day. Later, the owner of the little store we always go to for food asked us if we could teach him, so we went the next morning to teach him as well. It wasn't much, and none of them ended up going to church on Sunday, but it was definitely the Lord's hand in our work.

Elder Winegar and I during volleyball

We've also been helping out and eating a lot with one of our investigators. Her name is Maritza, and she has two kids. Rubi (20) and Gilberto(17) and they're super cool. They invite us to eat with them all the time, even though they aren't members. They say it's because we serve others, so they should serve us. I'm fine with it.

We went and played volleyball for P-day today, and It was super fun. The Elders in the district are a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with. We don't get to do a lot of hanging out here in the mission, so we enjoy what we get.

The life in México is going fine. It gets a little hot sometimes, but all in all, it's good. Make sure you're reading the book of Mormon often. It will change your life!

-Elder Scott

Action shot of Elder Rivas as goalie