Pues, estas han sido unas semanas muy interesantes. Donde empiezo...

Last week I didn´t write a letter here because the website was down. But I had the oportunity to talk to you guys a bit by Skype, it being Christmas time. So you already know of the biggest news here, that I´m in a new area with 2 new companions. I´ll tell a bit about them.

Elder Bierman is from Salt Lake City, and Elder Flores is from Torreón, Coahuila. They´ve got 1 and 2 transfers (of six weeks each) less than me in the mission, respectively. They´re both really cool; we all get along well. We´re working hard here in the area and all of our other assignments.

We´re in the Atizapan ward, Valle Dorado stake. Our area is right by my first area, Alamedas. Even though it´s a different stake, we go to the same chapel. So I´ve ran into a couple of people that I knew a year ago. They all seem to agree that my spanish sure has improved.

The first baptism in my mission was of Araceli, who at the time lived in Alamedas. But now she and her husband Isaac and their baby Leonardo (who was yet to be born when I was in Alamedas) live in the Atizapan ward, just around the corner from our house. I, of course, was glad to see them continuing faithful. Isaac is young men´s president and Araceli is in the young women´s presidency. It´s been really cool seeing them working to bring more youth to the ward activities. A couple of days ago they accompanied us to a couple of lessons. It was really cool seeing them share their testimony and explain how they came to know for themselves of the truthfulness of the restored gospel.

I don´t have too much time right now, so I guess I´ll have to tell you more next week. But just know that everything is going well here in Atizapan! I love serving the Lord here in this great mission!!

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Fotos

Zona Valle Dorado en el devocionál navideño de la misión.

Getting ready for Christmas! Here´s our "esquina navideña"

149 temples in the world, 13 in Mexico

This has been a great week!

Yesterday we had the great oportunity to participate in the dedication of the Tijuana Mexico temple. In all of Mexico no regular church services were held, rather the dedication services were transmitted to the stake centers for all recomend-holding members to watch. The stake centers became extentions of the temple. President Dieter F. Uchtdorwas assigned by President Monson to preside in the dedicatory services.

Even though we didn´t get to go all the way to Tijuana, I feel I really got to participate in the dedication. It was, of course, an amazing experience. The power of the temple creates true changes in the communities in which there is a temple present. I can feel that difference even all the way down here in Mexico City.

We have done lots of other things too, but it seems that they will be stories for another day, as I am again out of time. Needless to say that the mission is the best time of my life!

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The mission is fun

Yet again I am left without much time to write. I´ll start by copying a fun paragraph from the letter I wrote directly to my mom and see what else follows.

Yesterday we watched the Christmas devotional in the stake center. It was cool. The talks and prayers are all translated to Spanish. But the music isn´t. With most of the songs it´s fine; everyone just listens to the choir´s lovely melodies. But when the conductor gives the signal for the congregation to join in, that´s when things go bad. The lyrics come up on the screen in English, so some people start trying to read it and sing in a language that they have no idea how to pronounce. Others pull out their hymn books and start to sing in Spanish. Yet others, especially investigators or those with little experience in such meetings, look around, perplexed, trying to keep up and by the end just giving up. Meanwhile the gringo missionaries sit in the back struggling to hold in laughter as they hear an indistunguishable mix of confusion and conviction being shouted out in a somehow angelical chorus. It´s quite fun.

Lots of other things in the mission are fun in the mission too. Finding people to teach and seeing the change that comes in their lives is easily my favorite.

Sorry for not writing much, but, as you may assume, I´m having a great time here. I´m learning a ton and getting much better.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Good week and a Good companion

Well, it´s been another great week.

My dad asked me this:"I'm anxious to hear a little bit about your new companion. Where is he from? Which MTC did he attend?" The answers to those questions won´t be exactly what you expect.

I thought it was going to be quite a responsability being someone´s first companion right out of the MTC. I didn´t imagine it would be quite like this.

I´ll start with my dad´s questions:

1) He is from Cuautitlan Izcalli, Estado de Mexico. If you´ve seen the maps of my mission, you might realize that that municipality is within our mission´s boundaries. Actually, half of our area is in Cuautitlan Izcalli.

2) He has yet to attend the MTC.

You probably want an explanation. Elder Abdelrrague was called to serve in the Salt Lake City West mission. He has been waiting for his visa for more than five months, so his stake president asked permission to let him start his service here while he waits for the visa. Once he´s got it, he´ll head off to the Provo MTC and from there out to the mission field.

But for now we´re working hard here in La Quebrada. We´re taking it as if he were a normal new missionary, but I´ve got to teach him quite a few of the basics that are learned in the MTC.

Needless to say, we´re both going to have to trust a lot in the Lord in these upcoming weeks. Without Him, we won´t be able to do it. But I know he´ll be there for us. He always has been.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

News and a Miracle

This week I´ve got news and one of the coolest miracles of my whole mission to tell about. I´ll start with the miracle.

You might remember the story about Laura. If not, check my letter from Juy 13 of this year. It was an amazing miracle how we were able to find Laura, completely basing our search on the guideance of the Holy Spirit and nothing else.

A few weeks ago Elder Gil and I were talking in a zone conference and we came to know that Laura had been baptized after we had both left the area. That goes to show how the Lord works by small means to bring about great things.

Now we found Laura in a small pizza store. She was working there with another girl who was really interested in our message. We talked with her on a few occasions, but she couldn´t really progress because she lived far away and didn´t belong to our ward. We sent her contact information to the missionaries there hoping they would visit her.

I left that area and went to Joyas, where I stayed 3 months. Now I´ve got 6 weeks here in La Quebrada. Needless to say that that girl was not very present in my mind anymore.

This Sunday we were passing through a busy intersection in the middle of our area, saying "buenas tardes" to just about everybody (as we always do), when I felt I should take a better look at someone we had just passed. It was Laura´s friend! She had turned around too, saying "I know that Elder".

After almost six months I found her again, and she lives in my new area! Every day I believe less and less in coincidences. The Lord truly has every last little part of His plan laid out. His plan is Perfect!

We must learn to trust in His guideance. That leads me to my news. Tomorrow my companion Elder Tec is heading out to Hidalgo. I´m staying here in La Quebrada. My new companion will be one fresh out of the MTC. It´s a huge responsability being someone´s first companion; Basically everything I do in the mission will be how he does it his whole mission. But I´m grateful for the oportunity.

I will follow the Lord in all that I do. I know that He will always lead me for good and support and encourage me along the way. He always has.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Growing Faith

Greetings from Mexico! I´m having a great time here, as always. This is truly the Lord´s work, and He blesses those who serve Him with great joy (Alma 31:38)

Every week has lots of acontecimientos (happenings? events?). Every week is eventful. That´s how you say it, right? But there´s not time for all of them. I´ll share one relevant story.

Do you remember the Parra Luna family? Their 10 year old son Diego passed away a few weeks ago. We have been visiting them since then, and we have come to know much of their family. Including brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, they are probably about 25-30 people.

This week we ran into a large group of them together eating dinner. They, of course, offered us to join in, and afterwards we offered to share a message. They told us that one nine year old girl has yet to be baptized. We, of course, followed their petitions to prepare her for a baptism.

We taught that day very little, but answered her questions about God´s plan for us. When we explained where her cousin Diego is, she cried. A couple of days later we came back and explained the restoration. Almost all of the family was present in both lessons, and the Holy Spirit was allowed to enter in many hearts.

On Sunday we were excited to see that quite a bit of the family came to church! I believe that they have years without coming. Not all came; there´s still work to do. But we´re working on that. Actually, I´m almost out of time because we´ve got a family home evening with them and the bishopric in a few minutes.

One of the best parts of the mission is seeing the change that the gospel brings in others. David A. Bednar compared it to the brother of Jared (see Ether 3). He had lots of faith bringing the stones, brightly polished I´m sure, to put before God. But when he started, that faith still was not sufficient for him to see the Lord´s finger. That faith grew each time a stone began to shine until finally it reached that level. That´s how the mission is. Each time I see the happiness that the gospel brings in someone´s life, my faith in the Lord increases. I still lack improvement, but this certainly makes a huge difference.

And that is not to mention the huge change I´ve seen in my own life.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Short letter :)

This week Idon´t have mush to write, but that´s okay because I don´t have much time either.

All is well here in the broken (La Quebrada)! We´re working hard, but we´re facing challenges in our area. Almost every investigator is facing their own challenges this week. But I know that if we keep trusting in the Lord, all will be well.

That might be too short, but honestly I´m out of time. But know that all is well!

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

p.s. A picture is worth a thousand words, so now I´m fine ;)

What I did on Saturday

Well, this whole week has been great. But I think I´ll just share what I did on Saturday. We woke up, exercised, got ready, studied, and headed out like normal.

We First had a lesson with Juan David, a cool guy that has been listening to us. He´s got a ton of difficulties. He lives with someone who is divorced. Her ex-husband is wants to get back together, and Juan David says he doesn´t want to get in the middle of it, so he´s going to go home to Guanajuato, but he doesn´t have money for the bus ticket. It´s quite a strange situation, but I feel like he will find missionaries there and accept the gospel. He sure has felt the spirit in our short visits.

Next we visited Octavio. He is progressing greatly, but has been busy with work and we haven´t been able to teach him this week. We only had about 25 minutes and a lot more than seemed possible to teach, but, in miraculous form, Octavio explained the whole plan of salvation in less than 5 minutes. Then we asked about other principles that we wanted to teach, and he knew them like the back of his hand. We asked how he had learned so much, and he said that a member had given him a "Gospel Principles" book and he had been studying it.

At the end of the lesson he asked "now I have to make covenants, right? Baptism is the first ordinance, so can I still be baptized on the day we had planned?"

After eating some mole verde we headed to Atizapan for a baptismal interview. Where we went was in my current stake, but the same chapel that we went to in my first area. I saw quite a few people who I knew. I could talk for a while with Isaac and Araceli. Araceli was my first convert in the mission (more than a year ago). They are doing great! Now they have a baby boy and they both have callings with the youth in their ward and are preparing to go to the temple. Isaac said, referring to his son, "Thanks to you and Elder Mendez, this little guy is going to be a missionary too." That´s got to be one of the coolest things you can hear.

We then returned to La Quebrada and had just enough time for another lesson. We visited Julio Cesar and his wife Ivon. That lesson was one of the cooles lessons of my mission, but I just noticed the time, and I believe that it´s going to have to be a story for another day.

The mission really is the best time of my life!

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Diego and Goliath

This was an interesting week. To start, it hasn´t even rained here this week. A large hurricane did hit, as you may have heard, but it was far enough away that we´ve been just fine. It´s interesting how my mom in more "in the loop" on Mexican news than me. I hardly even knew there was going to be a hurricane.

My mom also wrote me a bit about David and Goliath. She talked of how David had great faith. Before fighting Goliath, many people questioned him, but he bore his simple testimony, knowing that God had saved him from a lion before and could do it again. The Lord has saved me from many "lions" in my mission, but I would like to share an experience about fighting a "Goliath".

This week we met the Parra Luna family. They are less-active members of the church. We visited them on Wednesday. The family consists of two parents and three kids. That day their oldest son Moroni wasn´t home, but their daughter and youngest son were home. It was a nice visit. Diego, the ten-year-old son, kindly offered us a slice of pizza and said the prayer, then we talked about many gospel topics and made a return appointment for Friday.

On Friday we got there at th appointed time, but were surprised to find a large group of people gathered at their house. As we came closer, we started to realize what was going on. Diego had passed away. Brother Parra invited us in, and we sat on the couch for a small while whatching Diego´s friends and family take turns walking by the tiny coffin to see him one last time. We had no idea what to do, but we could tell that our presence was comforting to the family. We asked if we could do anything, and brother Parra asked us to share a short message with those that were there and say a prayer. My companion was a great example for me of courage and faith as we stood to speak with no idea what to say.

Sometimes we don´t know when Goliath is going to show up. We should be spiritually prepared in every moment. I was really grateful that in my personal studies in the few days before I had strengthened my testimony of the Plan of Salvation.

On Saturday we went to the services in the cemetary. We had a few other "Goliath" esxperiences there. But I noticed something interesting. I could see a great difference in the faces of the members of the church who were there compared with others. There was much more peace in their eyes. I commented on that in my talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Everyone who is on this Earth knew and accepted God´s plan before this life. Now we´re here, and many can´t remember it. It is our job to remind them -- a difficult task when many don´t remember that they want to know the plan. But I can promise you that they all do want to know it. In moments such as that which the Parra Luna family passed, we are more prone to remember that we need God. But we all need Him all of the time.

I hope we can all prepare ourselves constantly, because we never know when we´ll need more spiritual strenght. And we never know when others will need our spiritual strength.

Maybe someone needs your strength right now.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

La Quebrada

Well, here I am in "La Quebrada". And, as usual, I don´t have much time to write. I´l get right into it.

My companion is named Elder Tec. He´s from Merida, Yucatán. He´s only been in the mission 3 months and has only been a member of the church for a few years. He´s a cool guy and a great missionary. I feel like we´re going to work well together.

The area has been a bit low. The missionaries here haven´t had much success in a bit of time. But I have lots of hope that that is going to change. I really am excited to work hard here and do a lot of good in the Lord´s vineyard. We´ve already seen blessings as we strive to act of this faith, and yesterday a couple of investigators went to church for the first time.

The ward is small. There were probably only about 50-60 people in sacrament meeting (quite a change from my last ward, where often the chapel became overfilled and people had to stand in the aisles). But the few members that I have already met are great. They seem to have lots of faith and I feel that as we help to motivate them about missionary work, there will be a lot of progress here.

I´m honestly not sure why I have so much hope to have lots of success here. I feel that the Lord has given me that hope because He wants me to work hard. I might not be able to change the world, but if I trust in the Lord I know that I will be able to do great things. "I can do all things in Christ" and with His strength (Phil. 4:13). He strengthens those whom He calls, and I know that He has called me. He doesn´t always call the best or the greatest, but He knows what He´s doing. His strength is avaliable to all who humbly search His aid. Of this I am sure.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

 The view from my new house :)

interesting news

This week has been awesome. The area has exploded! We have had a ton of success. We found lots of new investigators this week. Three of them went to church for the first time. Brian, a new investigator, is preparing to be baptized a week from Saturday. Other investigators who have gone a long time without progressing have recieved strong spiritual impressions prompting them to come unto Christ. The work is progressing rapidly here in the Joyas ward.

All of this, of course, just in time for me to be sent to another area. I´m being transferred tomorrow to La Quebrada, in the Valle Dorado stake. This was very unexpected, seeing as I only have 3 months in this area and my companion 6. But now he´ll be here for at least 7 1/2. I´ll attach a map of the mission so that those interested can see where my areas are. My areas have been, starting from the beginning: Alamedas ward, Alamedas stake; El Carmen ward, Tula stake; Pensamiento ward, Prados stake; Joyas ward, Cuautitlan stake; La Quebrada ward, Valle Dorado stake.

I´m not really sure what to expect; I have no idea what the ward is like, what my companion is like, what my area is like -- that will have to wait until next week. But I´m fine with the change. I am willing to go where the Lord sends me.

I know that the Lord is directing His work. God Is at the Helm. I have seen so many times on my mission the guidance on the Lord through His authorized servants and leaders. I know that, no matter what happens, if I just trust in His guide, He will always provide.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

p.s. Do you like to play "Where´s Waldo"? Or "Where´s Elder"? If so, search for the street "De la Pradera" in "San Pablo de Las Salinas, Estado de Mexico, 54930, Mexico" on google maps. Open up street view, and start looking! (Hint: that´s my third area)

October 5, 2015

Well, this week was great as always, with the crowning event being general conference. For those of you that may read this (I don´t know who actually reads it) who don´t know what that is, general conference occurs every six months, and it is a great oportunity to listen to messages written by the living prophet and apostles under the guideance of the Holy Ghost. We believe that the words spoken there, along with the feelings and impressions that we recieve in our hearts as we listen, are our Heavenly Father´s guideance for each of us, both collectively and individually.

We went to the stake center in Cuautitlan Izcalli to see conference. Nine or ten of us gringos watched in a classroom in English while the rest of the building filled up with people who came to watch in Spanish. Even though I would probably understand every word in Spanish, it´s quite a blessing being able to watch it in English, because it is easier for that understanding to go from my hear to my heart (2 Nephi 31:3; D&C 90:11).

I loved every one of the talks. I can truly promise that whatever question you may have, it will be answered by the mouth of the living prophets if you search for it with love and faith. I came searching for various answers, and they all we´re answered. Plus many questions that I wasn´t wise enough or humble enough to have asked were also brought to my understanding.

As you strive to apply what you´ve learned (I´m sure you´ll all be "ponderizing", for example), I would like to invite you to ponder over one question that Larry R. Lawrence posed: "What lack I yet?" As you ask the Lord with humility of heart, He will show you what else you must do. But at the same time, remember to "simplify".

I love the Lord and I know that He loves each and every one of us and guides us when we look for Him.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

We found some really big limes.

A week so great that I have no time to write...

This Friday Tania was baptized. She is so happy in the church. She told me after her baptism "Now you can go home and say that you changed somebody´s life. Especially my childrens´ lives." You can imagine how that made me feel. It is amazing how the gospel can change people´s perspective and make them so happy.

Now it´s time to keep heading to the future and work to help change other peoples´ lives. This is a great work.

Sorry, but I don´t have any more time...but know that all is well! I´m looking forward to general conference! Tell everyone to watch it.

I´ll sent what Sister Titensor sent us before the last general conference. I suggest you follow it, preparing beforehand and acting afterwards. The Lord will bless you with personal revelation and answers to whatever wuestion you might have as you do so.


Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Tania´s Baptism!

The first one is with some of Tania´s family.

The second with a bunch of ward members.

And the third is with Tania, her son Sergio, and Guadalupe, Tania´s neighbor who is currently investigating the church.

September 21, 2015

Let´s see, what should I write this week...

Well, this week was about as normal of a week as you can get in the mission field. We taught lots of people, walked a lot, and met a few new people. This week was Independence Day here, but we didn´t do anything out of the ordinary. But there sure have been a lot of fireworks around here.

I think I´ve told you a bit about Tania (about 5 weeks ago). She progressed really fast, and is now preparing for her baptism. If all goes as planned, she will be baptised this Friday. She has truly had a great change, and the baptism will just cap it off. Of course afterwards she won´t be finished either, but the change that she has already had is amazing. She probably sould have been baptized long ago if it weren´t for the rule that you have to go to church 5 times before baptism here in Mexico.

The only trivial thing I can think of to add is that this week I ate my first burrito in Mexico. Here in central Mexico there´s food from all over the country, so it surprises me that I haven´t found a northern restaurant sooner. But now I have, and it was delicious. And only 3 minutes walking from my house! I think I´ll go back.

Needless to say, all is well here in Cuautitlan. This is the Lord´s work, and my testimony of that is strengthened every day.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Fourteen months in Mexico and finally I find a place that sells burritos! I missed these things almost as much as I miss barbeque.

Temple Dedication

This week was awsome! I´m just going to skip right to the best part: the temple dedication.

To follow chronological order, I´ll talk of the cultural program first. On saturday night in a well-known theater in Mexico City the church put on a show about the church in Mexico. You can see at least pictures at http://sud.org.mx/dedicacion (I don´t know if the video is avaliable). We were able to watch it live via internet in the chapel. It was a cool program, relating the story of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the miraculous translation of the Book of Mormon to Spanish, and how restored gospel truths made their way throughout Mexico. The Church´s history in Mexico is one full of sacrifice. One of the main plot points was of Rafael Monroy and Vicente Morales, who were two of the first converts in Mexico. They were violently martyred for their beliefs, but neither they nor their families lost the faith. They lived and died in my second area. I came to know many of their descendants who are still faithful saints.

On Sunday we had the amazing oportunity of attending all 3 dedicatory sessions of the Mexico City temple. President Eyering, Elder Holland, and four área seventies (whose names i´ll leave out for time) were in attendance.It was an amazing spiritual experience. I felt exactly the same as President Eyering when he said, finishing the first sesión, "I found the answers to every question that I came looking for, plus a few that I wasn´t wise enough or humble enough to have asked".

I can truly testify that Christ lives and loves us. The temple is the place where we can come closest to Him on the Earth. And without the sacred temple covenants, none of the good deeds we do here would be of any good, because they wouldn´t last forever. That´s part of the meaning of "the whole earth would be utterly wasted at His coming" found in Malaki 4:5-6. Without the sacred sealing power that Elijah restored to the earth on April 3, 1836, everything would be useless because nothing would be eternal. What an amazing message we have for the world!

I would love to talk more on the subject, but I´m currently out of time.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

A few trivial things and something quite the opposite

Hello! Saludos from Cuautitlan!

My dad said that I should write a bit more about trivial stuff. I´ll start out with a few of the questions that he sent:

Q: What do you eat when you have to prepare your own meals?
A: At home my food can vary quite a bit. It can be something like sopes or tacos or something like chicken nuggets and hashbrowns. I drink about 5-6 liters of milk a week (at least 3 of which being chocolate), and a yughurt every day. Yet my favorite is still a simple peanut butter sandwich. They just make me feel happy. But peanut butter is so expensive here!

Q: What is your apartment like?
A: Right now we live in what may just be the nicest house in the mission. Downstairs there is a kitchen, a small living-room area, and a bathroom. Upstairs there are two small rooms, one with bunkbeds and the other with two desks. There´s another bathroom upstairs too. Plus the nicest feature: the gas that us burned to heat up the water when we shower comes out of the ground, rather than a tank that you have to bring to be filled every so often. That is unheard of around here! I remember in my last area I tried to explain to a member how that works in the United States. No matter how hard I tried to explain it, he just couldn´t understand. It´s nothing he had ever imagined possible.

Q: What do you do on a normal P-Day?
A: On P-day we study like normal and then clean the house. Once clean our only weekly chores are buy food, wash the clothes, and write the family (not that writing home is a chore...that sounded bad). We usually have a couple of hours to go wander around in Cuautitlan Centro or something. Today we had a barbecue to celebrate independence day the American way. we made burgers with a couple of other Elders. That was quite a blast! I hadn´t eaten a hamburger that filled me up in more than a year!

Q: How are your clothes holding up?
A: see photo :)

I´ll try to talk a bit more about this kinds of stuff later.

This week I ran into Araceli and Isaac. You might remember them from my letters almost exactly a year ago now. Isaac was less-active and his wife Araceli wasn´t a member, but now they are preparing to be sealed in the temple. What an amazing blessing it is to be part of their lives! It´s truly amazing to see how the gospel changes lives! Now they have a beautiful 6-month-old baby boy, and I could see how glad they were to be able to raise him in the gospel.

Now I´m out of time, but I think that will suffice for now :)

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The airforce has been practicing for the independence day parade over my area.

:) August 31, 2015

It´s another great day in the Lord´s vineyard!

I´m not really sure what to write about this week, plus I don´t have much time. But I sent a bunch of pictures, so I hope you´ll forgive me.

I just want to say that all is well here, and that this work is real! The Lord lives and loves you! I know that this is true.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Carnitas selfie with Elder Medina, Elder Huxford, and Elder Black (left to right).

Tacos selfie with Christian, Elder Medina, Elder Anderson, Edwin and ELder Mendoza (left to right).

Pizza selfie with Elder Medina, Elder Mendoza, Elder Anderson, and Edwin.

Tortas selfie with Those guys again.

Plus a tortas selfie selfie.

The independance decorations are starting up

Holiness to the Lord

This week we had the amazing opportunity to attend the open house in the Mexico City temple. It was truly an amazing experience. The ward paid for a small van to bring us there with investigators and recent converts. Everyone had an amazing experience in the Lord´s house.

I would like to talk a bit about how important the temple is. For me, some of my favorite things about the temple include:

-The amazing spirit that is felt there
-The personal revelation that the Lord can give us while we are there
-The peace that you can feel as you come a bit closer to the Lord´s presence

Yet most of all, I love the eternal significance of the ordinances that are performed therein. One can recieve knowledge of the Lord´s plan, be given power from on high, and be sealed together with their family forever. These blessings are not only avaliable to us, but rather through our efforts we can connect generations in the Lord´s house.

All of this is possible through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through the prophet Joseph Smith the keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times were restored to the Earth. All of the blessings and promises that have at any time been given to any of God´s children here on Earth are avaliable to us today.

It´s really important, right?

I have known of the truth of this work for a long time, but it was again confirmed to me as I was in the Lord´s house this week. I invite you to all seek after that confirmation as well. I invite you to ponder over the importance of the temple and how you can improve your vision and your main life goals, and help others to do so as well. I promise that the Lord will be there to guide you as you do so.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The Lord´s house

From left to right: Me, Edwin, Bishop Wong, Maiko, Pahoran, Elder Medina.

Maiko with his Mom, his two brothers, his sister, and his brother´s wife (far left).

This week Maiko was baptized and confirmed. He has truly gained a strong testimony! He loves being part of the Lord´s church. It´s amazing seeing how the Lord can bring about such a deep change in someone, always for the better.

As you may have heard, the Mexico City temple is going to be rededicated in just a few weeks. The open house has already started, and I´ve been told that it was all booked in just a few hours. We´ll most likely have a chance to take a few investigators to the open house this week. It´s such a great oportunity!

I´ve been thinking a lot about the temple and why it is so important. The Lord has given us the oportunity to enter into His house, thus moving a little closer to His presence, to participate in sacred ordinances in which He may invest us with power from on high and seal us together with our families through generations. How great is His love for us!

I remembered the other day when I went to the open house in the Nauvoo temple. I don´t know how old I was (you can do the math), but I was young enough that I remember almost nothing. I don´t remember the trip. I don´t remember the rooms in the temple. I just remember them putting bags over my shoes and some really cool spiral staircases. But I will never forget what I felt there. In the Lord´s house one can feel such peace that cannot be compared with any feelings you may have experienced in any other place. Ask anyone who has been inside; they´ll tell you the same thing.

Now, why is that how you feel when you´re in the temple?

I´ll leave that question for you to ponder.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Another week :)

The view from my house

This has been another good week, as they always seem to be.

We´re working hard here in Joyas. There´s quite a lot of work here, and that´s a good thing. I´m sure we´ll be able to have a lot of success here if we put our trust in the Lord and serve Him with all our might, mind and strength.

One investigator, Maiko (pronounced almost just like "Michael"), has progressed a lot since we found him right when I got to this area. He had visited the temple visitors´ center and loved it. The sister missionaries there in the temple had been talking with him almost daily over the phone since then. We just got a call that said "You have an investigator in your area who already has heard the missionary lessons and has been going to church for a few weeks already". I´m not really sure why they didn´t tell us to visit him sooner, pero ya ni modo. He´s really got a strong testimony and has his baptism planned for this Saturday.

Other than that, there´s not much new here. We ´ve been walking a lot, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and sharing the gospel with lots of people.

And as always, I ran out of time to write more.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Welcome to Joyas

It´s crazy how time flies in the mission! I´m already in my fourth area! Alamedas, El Carmen, and Pensamiento were great, but now I´m off to a new adventure in the area Joyas 1. It´s always wierd changing
areas -- your whole life changes literally over night. But it´s a great experience, especieally when you go to an area that has as much potential as Joyas.

My companion is named Elder Medina. He´s from Lima, Peru. He has 8 months in the mission. He seems to be a good missionary and a cool guy. I think we´ll get along well and get a lot of good work done in the Lord´s vineyard.

The area is a wierd mixture: super urban highways, housing, and shopping centers with a bunch of farms in between them all. A few of the luxuries of this area include (but are not limited to): Walmart, Sam´s Club, two bathrooms, hot water, underground gas lines (instead of a refilleable tank to run the water heater), and members who lend us their washing machines. I think I´ll can get used to this.

As for the work, this area has a ton of potential. We´ve already found investigators who are progressing rapidly towards baptism. The ward seems to work well with us. Lots of members accompany us to the lessons and they are very willing to give us referrals.

Needless to say that I´m excited to be able to work in this area. When one door closes, another opens. This area is a great oportunity for me as a missionary. I´m greatful for the oportunity to serve here.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

In the Lord´s service

¡Hola!


This week, as always, was a good one. The ward seems like it´s going to progress a lot. The members are starting to work a lot more effectively in mossionary work. We´ve found a few new investigators, including a few that are really prepared to recieve the restored gospel.


Hopefully Elder Gil and Elder Flores will have lots of success.


This week I´m getting transferred!


Elder Gil is going to stay here in Pensamiento. I´m heading out to the area Joyas 1 in the Joyas ward, Cuautitlan stake. I was just told last night at about10:00 and I have to be in the mission offices at 10:00 in the morning tomorrow. It´s crazy how fast your whole life changes while you´re on a mission!


Elder Gil served in Joyas 2 (in the same ward). He says that it´s an awsome ward full of awesome people and an awesome place to live. He says that there´s Wal-mart, Sam´s Club, and other luxuries that I´ve been missing for quite some time.


I´m so greatful for the oportunity to serve the Lord in this great mission. I love what I´m doing. It´s not always easy. It´s not always fun. But just as Alma and the sons of Mosiah, I have not and will not suffer anything that will not be "swallowed up in the joy of Christ" (Alma 31:38).


The joy that I have felt and the joy that I have seen brought into the lives of others far surpasses anything that could happen, whether it be showering in cold water for 4 1/2 months or getting sent suddenly to another area, leaving behind those I´ve come to know and love.


If I´m in the Lord´s service, there´s nothing that I have to worry about.


Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The Lord wants to talk with us

As always I am left without much time to write. I`ll just get into whaqt might be the biggest miracle of the week in Pensamiento.

Every night as we plan we make some specific plan to find a new investigator in the next day. One evening as we were on that step Elder Gil felt that we should look for Laura. We racked our brains trying to think of someone named Laura. I thought of two in my last area, but none here. Nonetheless we put our faith in the Lord and His revelation and planned to search for Laura.

During the day we talked with many people, but couldn`t seem to find Laura. As we finished up eating some tortas (una cubana deliciosa) we felt we should go talk with a girl about our age that sells pizza. We had talked with her a few times before and she seems interested, but she lives outside of our area. We also knew that she`s not named Laura.

When we arrived there was a different girl working there. We had talked with her before too, but she hadn`t seemed very interested. We just started chatting for a minute or two and the conversation naturally flowed into a gospel discussion. As we testified of various restored truths we saw that she gained a lot of interest. It seems like she may become a great investigator soon. If not, we certainly planted a seed that will be growing until mature.

As we walked away I opened up my agenda to our daily plans. I asked my companion if he remembered her name. As he said it I pointed to the page where it said in big blue letters "Buscar a Laura". He simply responded "No puede ser". We had trusted in the Lord and, although we had no idea how He would complete His word, He did.

I know that the Lord lives and loves us. He continues speaking with His children in this day and age. Not only can we recieve His word directly from the mouth of His living prophets, but today, as in days of old, he has promised personal revelation to all that seek it. He wants to comunicate with us just as any earthly parent wants to comunicate with his children in times of trouble. But we are never without access. In any moment, no matter the circumstance, we can pray and find answers directly from our all-powerful, all-loving Father. I know that that is true.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

let`s see...

Let`s see what happened this week...

I`ll just jump right in to one of the greatest miracles we saw this week. On thursday we went to see Donovan, a new investigator. Almost his whole family (parents, siblings, wife, children) are members, so of course he already knows a lot of what we believe. He likes what we teach, but he told us that he would not accept that Joseph Smith was able to see physically God the Father. We tried to explain many things, citing the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon, but he refused to accept that any mortal man had seen God. We left him Ether 3 to read and we returned the next day.

His attitude had changed completely. He read not only that chapter, but all of the introductions and testimonies and got to 1 Nephi 3. Not only that, but the Spirit had truly touched his heart. He explained to us how he now believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet just because of how he felt as he read.

President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: “Those who have read [the Book of Mormon]
prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power. . . .
Without reservation I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon,
regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your
hearts . . . the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in
obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living
reality of the Son of God” (see Preach My Gospel, page 108).

Another fun thing: I remember my parents telling me the story of how when I was tiny I always played on my little tikes basketball hoop with the missionaries. One of them picked me up to dunk it. I honestly don`t remember that, but this week I had a chance to be on the other side. One of the few basketball players in Mexico is a councelor in the bishopric here. His son Mosiah has a little tikes hoop. We ate with them on Saturday and I took the oportunity to play with him for a bit.

That last story might only be interesting to my parents, but, oh well.

There are a couple of the things that happened this week. There were much more, but for now that`s all you get. Just know that all is well. This is the Lord`s work, and it will always be progressing, with or without us. Choose to follow Him.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Elder Gil

June 29, 2015

playing futbol in the chapel

This, as always, was a good week.

On Tuesday I went to the DF so that I could fill out my visa papers. That means I`ve been in Mexico for almost a year! Crazy how time flies. I`ve been loving my time here in Mexico!

This week was difficult in several ways. Mainly it was difficult because we couldn`t find investigators to teach. We had a ton of appointments, but almost all of them fell through. We didn`t have many lessons with investigators this week, but we tried our best and the Lord blessed us.

One miracle this week was with the Reyes family. One evening we were close to their house and felt we should go see how they`ve been. When we got there we realized that they were having a ton of problems. We got there just in time to help them. They saw that to be a sign from God and an answer to their prayers. They happily accepted a baptismal date and are now progressing towards that important step.

I`m out of time already (I always run out way too fast). But just know that all is well here!

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The Lord is preparing His children

We started the week without many investigators, but the Lord guided us to many more. We realized one day that we had not been finding many through our own efforts, and we decided to trust in the spirit and talk with everyone we could.

One day we contacted more than 30 people in the street. Most rejected us, but a few accepted joyfully. One woman heard our testimony about eternal families and simply replied, "What do I have to do?"

Throughout the week we have been guided to knock on doors of less-active members who we didn´t know lived there, people whose family is listening to the missionaries in another area, and people who have been looking for a sign. The Lord truly is preparing his children (Alma 13:24). Angels are literally declaring the gospel to all the Earth and preparing the hearts of the children of men before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His kingdom is growing at record pace.

With that in mind, I would like to ask all of you who are members of the church, do you believe that what this is true? Do you believe that the Lord is preparing your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to recieve the restored gospel? Have you seen it recently in someone´s life, or in your own? Are your efforts to find the children of God whom He is seeking up to par?

As Elder Bednar stated, "Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!" (Ask in Faith, May 2008). We all share the responsibility to find those whom the Lord is preparing and provide them with the oportunity to find the happiness that we have.

For lack of time, I´ll just say that the activities of this week varied from eating lunch in a voilent rain storm to eating lunch in the blazing sun. It´s a fun life as a missionary. And the best part is when the Lord guides you. You recieve a prompting, however small and subtle it may be, and you act. It is then and only then that you see the evidence of the Lord´s great love in your life.

I invite you all to act on the prompting that you recieved and invite the person or people that came into your mind as you read this letter to come to church and to listen to the missionaries. Just share with them your testimony of how the gospel has blessed you and invite them to "Come and see".

I humbly testify in the name of Jesus Christ that the Lord will bless you and those you invite greatly as you trust in Him and His infinite love.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

"Open the doors of the Celestial Kingdom"

This Saturday was Sara`s baptism. It of course was great. She was really happy and, although a bit afraid of the water, had an amazing spiritual experience. A lot of her family came, family who, as far as I know, has never stepped foot inside of a Mormon church. They all seemed to have a great time too.

Sunday was the confirmation, after which Gabi gave a talk. She may have barely been baptized, but she gave one of the best talks I`ve heard in sacrament meeting in a long time.

One of Gabi´s cousins (Sara`s nephew) is a less-active member. The rest of the family are members of almost every other church there is. We met them all a couple of days before Sara´s baptism. We are planning on visiting them more this week.

This Thursday both Gabi and Sara will be visiting the Vera Cruz temple to do baptisms. I am so glad to see their progress. Their lives have really been filled with joy and peace, and that`s what this is all about!

Usually I run out of time to write all of the things that are in my mind, but this week I can`t seem to think of anything else.

But like I said, this is a work of joy and peace. Those same feelings that others feel as they come to understand the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are what I feel as I share it. I know that this message is true and that it changes lives. But it doesn`t only change lives -- it does something more. Through the restored gospel we can recieve salvation and exhaltation at the side of our Eternal Father. That is the great importance of this work. That is why we share the gospel. Dallin H Oaks said:

“We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. … We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this”

I know that this is true.

Love,
Elder Jayson Frasr

Sara`s Baptism!

Companion exchanges with Elder Huxford!

You guys and the Huxford family might find it interesting to know that we`re in the same district.

A good week

A shot of my journal, so that you can get an idea of a normal day in my life.


(I should be honest - that day was a bit abnormal.)

Sara`s baptism is scheduled for this Saturday. She has truly had an increase in faith in our time here. She and Gabi are so looking forward to going to the temple to do baptisms for their anscestors next week. The Lord has been helping them greatly!

Miracle of the week:

People at times yell all sorts of things to us as we walk in the street. But when they yell "Elderes" we know that we should talk to them. This week we heard someone calling us and went to talk to him. It turns out that he`s a returned missionary from Hidalgo living with some of his family for a few months.

He invited us to teach two families, both of which are his aunts and cousins. They are all super excited to listen to us! They are going to be a lot of investigators who are willing to learn and able to progress quickly in the Gospel.

I`m already almost out of time, but suffice it to say that that was not the only miracle that we saw this week!

The Lord`s work is moving forward faster than ever. Are you pushing it on or holding it back?

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

So many miracles that there´s no time to write

Dani´s Baptism

The second is with his parents (who still aren´t members).

I´m already out of time, so I´ll try to make this quick.

The hand of the Lord has been very present this week. We have seen quite a few miracles.

Daniel was baptised this Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. He certainly has had a change. I asked him right after the baptismal ordinance how he felt. His response was "I felt the power". I could feel it too.

Sara, Gabi´s mom, is really excited for her baptism. Most likely it will be the 13th, just before the trip to the temple.

Since Gabi´s baptism she has really become a different person. She has a super strong testimony. Seeing her talking to Dani´s parents in his baptism was awesome; she testified of the importance of the ordinance, the restored gospel, and the work in the temple in a normal conversation, and it was powerful.

Many other miracles have been surprising us. Things varying from helping people decide not to kill themselves to helping people decide not to kill others. But those will be stories for another day. Just know that while in the Lord´s work, there is nothing to fear.

He truly loves us.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

A week full of "Awesomes"

This week was quite awesome in many ways.


Daniel has been progressing a lot. Assuming all goes as planned, he will be baptized this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. He is an awesome kid. The gospel has truly changed his life. Now we need to pray and work hard so that the rest of his family can accept the restored gospel as well.


We had a lesson this week with a former investigator named Linda. She just had a baby and still can´t leave her house. The lesson was quite powerful; I belive she will have a very strong testimony of the restoration. Plus half way through the lesson, Dani showed up. It turns out he´s her nephew! Now isn´t that awesome!

Gabi has been preparing to go to the temple in Vera Cruz on June 18th. She and her mom Sara have been working on their family history so that they can bring names of their anscestors. Sara still isn´t a member and, although she listens to us and goes to church, she has never wanted to commit to be baptized.


Yesterday we had a lesson with them. We explained the Plan of Salvation, specifically explaining how it is possible that Sara´s mom and grandma can recieve the gospel in the spirit world. When we explained that, the spirit was really strong. Sara really wants to see her family again. In that moment we invited her to be baptized the 13th of June, giving her just enough time to go to the temple with Gabi. She and Gabi are now excitedly preparing for Sara´s baptism and their trip to the temple. Is that awesome or what?


I can truly testify that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the awesomest thing there is. It is the only thing that can bring true happiness into our lives, and the only thing that can make that happiness last forever.


Can you think of more reasons why the gospel is awesome?


Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Strange, but cool.

Elder Bednar visits the mission

This week was strange, but cool.

On Thursday Elder Tamez got transferred. It wasn`t a normal transfer, so it was kind of sudden. He went to Cuautitlan and Elder Gil came to Pensamiento as my companion. He has 8 months in the mission. He`s from Galicia, España. He`s a cool guy. I`m sure we`ll get along great.


On Saturday we had the oportunity to recieve a visit from a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder David A. Bednar of the quorum of the twelve. The whole mission met in the Tepalcapa stake center to hear from him and Arnulfo Valenzuela of the seventy. It was, of course, one of the coolest meetings I have been in on my mission.


Most of what we learned was about how we can learn for ourselves. Elder Bednar did teach us a lot of cool stuff, but as he stated, one of his main reasons for being there was so that we could learn that we don`t need an apostle to find our answers. As we use our precious gift of agency to actively seek answers, the Lord will show them to us by the power of the Holy Ghost.


As my dad correctly predicted, he didn`t come with a prepared speech. He just asked and answered questions. In that way everyone was recieving revelation and being edified together. He and Elder Valenzuela both said that their preparation is based Doctrine and Covenants 84:85. You must continually treasure up the words of life, do it your whole life, and then the Holy Ghost will tell you what to say. It sure communicated with all of us.


Investigators continue progressing, but I continue without time to write about all of them. But know that all is well.


Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

God truly loves his children

I´m going to start with a story...

One of the less active members we have been teaching told us of a friend who is also a member. We went to visit her and her family. Lupita is mother of Abigail, Valenia, and a son who we still haven´t met. They lost pretty much everything through a long, difficult life. They are living on the money that they make buying and selling stuff that no one wants (toys, furniture, etc). They only have a couple of plastic lawn chairs because they´ve sold all of their furniture.

Abigail isn´t a member. The first day when we met the family we left her a pamphlet of the restoration of the gospel and invited her to read it and pray to know if it´s true.The very next day we passed by their house and she had already read, prayed, and she had recieved an answer! She recieved a spiritual confirmation that the church is true in just one day! That goes to show how much the Lord wants to show us the truth, and that if we have a willing heart, He will.

Yesterday they came to church. It was Abigail´s first time and her mom and sister´s first time in years. They really loved it! They felt the spirit a lot. Afterwards they went and talked with the bishop after going to pay their tithing, super excited to be in the true church of Jesus Christ. It was amazing to see how much the spirit entered into their hearts so quickly.


It´s great serving the Lord. I know that He lives and loves us all. We are all his children (Romans 8:16). If you´re not sure about that, trust in that scripture. The Spirit can testify to you that it´s true. With a willing and humble heart, like that of Abigail, ask God if he truly knows and loves you. I promise that He will answer.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

p.s. - I´m going to get a new companion this week. I still don´t know who he is, but sometime this week Elder Tamez is going to head off to another area.

Another great week

May 4, 2015

Well, it was another great week. I´ll just jump into the body of my letter.

Gabi is doing great in the gospel. She is truly happy, and it shows. Her mom Sara isn´t a member, but she´s been attending church a bit with Gabi and she loves it. Our ward mission leader Arturo brought them both to the Mexico City temple visitors´ center last week, and I guess they both loved it. We´re going to be working a lot with them so that Sara can progress towards baptism and all of the eternal blessings that follow.

Yesterday we recieved an awesome call from Gabi. She said that she is planning on going on the ward temple trip to Vera Cruz in June (the Mexico CIty temple is still closed for mantainence, but opens in September). She was super excited to perform the work for her father, but realized that being a woman she couldn´t literally perform the ordinance for him. Her suggestion was that we baptize Daniel and he does it. He has the same name and birthday as her father, and they´ve become friends. We thought that was an awesome idea! We told her, and she hadn´t thought of this, that if her mom progresses, she could go to the temple too. We´re going to be working hard and praying harder that all three of them can be ready to go to the temple this June!

This week some members told us that their neighbor had asked if we could visit her. Excited, we went to visit. It turned out that she only needed help with some English homework (for some unknown reason, everyone always ask me for help with that). But we asked her if anyone she knew would be interested in the gospel, and she told us of some family members. We visited them and taught the restoration, and hopefully they´ll progress. They also gave us the names of two other families to visit. It´s amazing to see some of the ways that the Lord furthers his work. We´ve all heard that God moves in mysterious ways. If sending a blonde American kid to Mexico so that people will ask for help with English and we´ll be able to find and teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ isn´t working in mysterious ways, I don´t know what is.

Basically it´s been a great week. Pretty much every week is great. Even when it may seem like it was a bad week from what I write in my letter, I always feel great. I´m truly happy in ther service of our Lord.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

p.s. Cool news: On may 16 Elder David A. Bednar will be visiting our mission. We will have a meeting with all of the missionaries, and later he will meet with ward and stake leaders and do a question/answer session with the youth.