Okay, so something that i have somehow failed to mention to all of you, is that I am now part of the Mexico Chalco Mission. The southeast mission got split, so i´m just in the southern half now. :) We have a wonderful president, he´s american, and a great bunch of elders and hermanas! We actually live in the valley of a huge volcano, Popocatépetl, and its been smoking like the whole time i´ve been here. We have woken up couple days with ash all over the valley, and i think they closed the airport. Everyone wears breath masks, except us, which may be a problem, but i guess that´s why they say the Lord protects missionaries. Its pretty cool, and you can see it in one of the pictures! I have some advice for you all. If your companion ever asks if you want to eat some patitas, make sure you know what they are before you say yes. For meals here, we eat a tiny breakfast and a tiny dinner, because we pack down for lunch! Its a huge two course meal, that i can barely finish. They always offer more too. They eat corn tortillas with EVERYTHING! I´ve had hamburgers twice already, which is more than i thought i would my whole mission. The language is coming along. I´m starting to understand a lot more! I can usually say what I want to, but the response is what kills me. I usually just nod my head and say ¨si¨, cause i know that they don´t want to say it again. I have found that its easy to make friends that way! When you just agree with everything anyone ever says, there´s no room for hatred ;) Right now I´m just trying to show my love to them through the language barrier and show them that I have a testimony. Its all the Lord asks anyway :) We had four baptisms yesterday! Familia Lopez. I love this little boys. SO MUCH, when i see them inteact I am often reminded of my years growing up with my brothers, and I just get so happy and am so grateful for good times i had with mine, and i look forward to more! My testimony grows everyday! This week, multiple times, we started teaching and the little babies started wailing and crying and it was rather difficult to continue. But as we began singing a hymn, every time, the babies just sat still and listened. ITs amazing what power hymns have, and also how close babies are to the Lord. They were just recently with him after all. It made me sad to realize that as we grow older, we all distance ourselves from the Lord. Why?! We should all try to be as close as we can to him. He´s only just a prayer away. I had a cool experience in a lesson as well. We started, and the mother of the family began ranting about something that I couldn´t understand and then stormed out. From what my companion began teaching, I understood that they were having marriage problems. So, i asked how the book of mormon reading was and he said that they were not reading together at all. I then promised him that if he and his wife would read the book of mormon together each day, there would be peace and joy in their home, and especially between themselves. The spirit that entered the room as I said that was truly astounding. I don´t think anyone could have denied that feeling, and i am so grateful to have been able to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands to promise that to somebody. Its pretty cool and stuff like that happens everyday in the field! I absolutely love it. This week has been awesome. I will never foget how i feel everytime I see someone walk into the baptism font all in white. Its so so so special. There is nothing more true on this earth than the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that with all of my heart. I hope that you all know that! This week, try to think about what it really means to be a son or daughter of a God, and that he, a God, will listen to you and answer your prayers. As ruler of the universe, he´s got a lot on his hands. But he´ll stop everything just to hear your voice. All because He loves you. I hope you don´t ever forget that!!! i hope you all have a wonderful week.
:)
Elder Jake
