26 Enero 2015

Well, my mom suggested that I put the dates on these letters. It´s a good idea, but I figure I´ll do it in Spanish just to confuse everybody.

I´m already out of time. the computers have been difficult today. Apparently they´re re-doing the whole system of internet in the whole country or something like that. But it´s all good.

Well, it was a great week. We had some good lessons, I went to Tepeji del Rio for a day on intercambios, and most of all we have investigators that are progressing.

Antonio is doing great. We taught the word of wisdom and he gave up coffee on the spot. He showed up to church on his own (a HUGE miracle).

We also got 3 new investigators, Marlin, Maria Guadalupe, and Josué. Marlin is Maria´s husband and Josué´s dad. He had a horrible car accident and just finished a long stay in the hospital. Now he´s staying at his parents´ house (members in our ward) and still can´t get out of bed. But it all made him think. He wants to change. He had listened to missionaries before and wanted nothing to do with it. But now he wants to do everything that he has to so that he can be baptized. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. That´s not to say that He caused the accident, but that His infinite wisdom is manifested in His allowing the accident to happen, knowing it would be for Marlin and his family´s benefit in the end (2 Nephi 26:24).

Well, I´m out of time. Suffice it to say that I am happy and the Lord´s work goes on.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

The Lord´s work on the Lord´s time

By the time I start writing this, it never feels like it´s been a whole week. Time is really flying by. When I think of my time in the MTC, my time in las Alamedas, or my time at home, it really seems like yesterday. Yet at the same time, it seems like times long ago. God really has blessed me with the ability to focus on what I am doing without becoming too nestalgic for the past. Yet I still treasure all of my past experiences and the memories, wisdom, and friends that I have gained along the way. Now all that is left to do is look to the future, doing my part and praying that God will do His. I trust in Him and I know that as I work as hard as I can now, He will prepare my future for me.

Well, now to talk about the past. This Tuesday we had some abnormal intercambios. There was a training for all of the leaders, so one day we split up and all of the companions of district leaders in my zone came to my area. It was cool working with new people, but kind of wierd having 3 missionaries together. It was a good experience; we learned a lot from each other and became friends too.

One of our investigators, Antonio, progressed a lot this week. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and says that he prayed and knows that it is true. He went to church for the first time yesterday, and he loved it. He´s starting to get lots of friends in the church. He should continue to progress greatly.

What else did I do this week...

Well I saw some guys playing a cool marimba in the street. It was no normal marimba -- it sounded like a pipe organ. That was pretty cool.

Other than that, just normal stuff. Working hard, praying hard, and loving every minute of it. This truly is the Lord´s work, and it will continue until all have heard the gospel and had an oportunity to choose to accept it. Until then, the work goes on.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser

Another good week....

This week was, well you guessed it, yet another good one. Man, I say that I had a good week so much that I´m running out of clever ways to say it. I think I´ve already used that one, but oh well.

This week we had quite a few lessons with new investigators (5 to be exact). In this area we are finding a ton of investigators. The problem is helping them to progress. The ones that really seemed like they were progressing have had difficulties lately. That´s a part of coming closer to the Lord; the adversary will try even harder to get to you.

One investigator, Isabel (and her son Uriel) is a good example. She was a member referral (de hecho, estamos en el cibercafe de el miembro quien nos dio la referencia). She is very catholic. She even gave classes of catholicism (I think that´s how you´d say it in English). She has progressed a ton over the weeks. She goes to church every week, read and highlights the Book of Mormon, and lots of other stuff. She´s just still looking for an answer as to whether the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet. She has been looking for that answer for weeks and, although she has surely felt the spirit as strong as ever, she says she has not found it. It´s tough because she understands everything well, has lots of faith, and just can´t find an answer. But she will keep looking, and I know that she will find it.

Some of the new investigators seem like they´ll be good too. Time will tell. Omar is a huge example of the adversary doing all he can to keep you off of the path of righteousness. He is having lots of troubles and has been hard to find this week. But we will keep working and the work of the Lord will never be frustrated.

I know that this last statement is true. The work of the Lord is in the hands of the Lord, and thus it will never be confounded. There are tons of quotes and stuff I could use for this, but I´ll let you look them up on your own. It sufficeth me to say that I know that the Lord is ever present in this great work and, although it won´t be easy for us, He will gain the victory.

Love,

Elder Jayson Fraser

El Carmen - Abandoned cement factory (La Tolteca)

El Carmen - Abandoned cement factory (La Tolteca)

El Carmen

El Carmen Chapel

San Marcos Chapel

Christmas Service project

homemeade crepes (corn tortillas) and Rosca de Reyes

Pics of el carmen

Tacos al Pastor in a Tanguis :)

"Content"

Again I don`t have much time to write. We had a bit of trouble washing our clothes this morning and we still have to go buy our food for the week, so here`s my week, but a bit condensed.

We had a good week, but we didn`t teach very much. We`re noticing a pattern that whenever we have an appointment, no one is home. So that`s a bummer. We`re working on it though.

We did teach a couple of people and are seeing a bit of progress. We have spoken a suprising amount of English this week. One less active member who we have been visiting is from Utah, so she speaks English better than Spanish. Another family that we found this week is from Costa Rica and were actually missionaries for their Christian church for many years. They couldn`t pay the money for good schooling for their kids to learn English, so they just spoke what they knew of English as they grew up. Now they all speak English and Spanish, and have better American accents than I do.

I`m almost out of time, but I`d like to throw in a quote from a member this week about the people here. He said that "La gente està contenta con un campo de futbol y una iglesia Catòlica" or "The people are content with a soccer field and a Catholic church". It is so true. So many of the people here are just "content" with the relation that they have with God now; they feel no need to change. They feel no need to learn more about God or abide by his precepts. They just feel content. This is a huge problem for all of us. We sometimes start to feel content with our contribution in our communities, in our families, and in our spiritual lives. Yet we must always do more. We must always be looking to serve someone, to do something good in the world, or to help a loved one through a tought time. We must not fall into being content with our current situation. This is one of the most common tactics that Satan uses to get us to falter in our eternal responsibilities. God knows we can do more. He knows we can always improve. That`s the whole point of this life, and life`s short. Don`t let it go by being content with how it is now. Make it better. Be better. Be more like Christ.

Love,
Elder Jayson Fraser