Week 55 Letter March 31, 2014

Hello Family and Friends!

We had an awesome week this week! It did get a little hot down here in Coatzacoalcos but the good news is we had a lot of work to do so we did not really notice the heat. There is so many people here that want to listen to us. It has been great to see the help from the members and the investigators get excited to learn.

So we had some pretty great stories this week. One of them comes from one of the members named Edgar. We were talking to him on Sunday about his girlfriend who we are teaching. He told us that on Saturday he went over to her house to spend some time with her and after a little while he asked her if she wanted to go to the theater. She then answered him that she could not because she was going to the Stake Center. He was just a little suprised. She went to the General Womens Conference this Saturday instead of going to the theater! We are very excited for her. She has a baptismal goal for the 12 of april! 

We also had something a little unfortunate turn out great with Mayra and Freddy. They went to church this Sunday and we were in the Gospel Doctrine Class. It was a very good class. We talked about baptism and why we need to be baptised. But at the end of the class, one of the Recent Converts from the ward got up and talked about how hard it was to give up coffee to be baptised but how much it helped her. We had not taught the Word of Wisdom to them yet so they noticed that. Mayra then asked if drinking coffee means that she cannot be baptised. We did not have much time to give her a response and mostly said that we would teach her this week. At the end of church she came up to us and told us that she was leaving church sad. We asked her why and she responded that she had to go home and throw away all of her coffee! What great faith from them. She only heard a little bit about the word of wisdom. She does not even know why we have the commandment and already wants to keep it!

We also recieved a refference from a dog this week. One of the members in our ward has a black lab named Nikki. The dog is way awesome and always come up to the gate so we can pet her. As we were waiting for the family to come out we were petting nikki and a lady passed by. As she passed by she commented on how the dog always barks at her but was very nice to us. And bit by bit we got her address and we are going to go visit her this week!

Thanks for all of your support!

Have a great week!

Elder Lightheart

Week 54 Letter March 24, 2014

Hello Everybody!

We had a great week this week. Elder Struthers and I have been having a great time. He got here on Tuesday for Cuidad del Carmen. He is from Lehi Utah and has 21 months in the mission. 

So the best part of the week is that we had a Baptism this week! It was a great service. Jesus, Scarlet and Alexandra all got baptised. There were a lot of people there. I baptised Jesus and Scarlet and Elder Struthers baptised Alexandra. It was really good to see all of the families there. All of the families are not all members and it was great to see their reactions to having their children baptised. I really enjoyed this baptism and just seeing the joy in the families. They were very grateful for the help that we gave them. I am very excited for our next baptism!

Mayra and Freddy also went to the baptism. It seems like they had a great experience. We are focusing on the a lot so that they can be our next baptisms. We are very excited for their progress!

Anabela is also progressing really well but she went on vacation this weeks so we did not get to see her.  

Elder Lightheart

Week 53 Letter March 17, 2014

Hello Everybody!

So we had transfers this week! I will be staying here in Mirador but Elder Alvarez will be headed out. Elder Struthers will be coming in his place.

Well its a little sad that Elder Alvarez is going but we now thats where he needs to be. We had a really good week this week. We were able to talk with a lot of people and help them to feel the spirit. I feel that the main reason for our success was a fast we did this week. We were studying together and talking about all the promises that come with fasting. We decided that we wanted that power to help the people here and so we did a special fast asking in particular for that special power that comes with fasting. We really felt it and I learned a lot about the purpose of fasting.

This next week we are going to have 3 baptisms. Scarlet, Alexandra, and Jesus. They are three kids from here in the Ward who have less active parents. Well they were less active. We decided to baptise the three of them together. It will be great to have another baptism here in the ward. 

We also have three other investigtors who are preparing for a baptism. Mayra and Freddy are a couple who rent from one of the members in the ward. Mayra is very excited and really wants to learn and join the church. Freddy at first was a little hesitant and listened mostly because of his wife but he is beginning to warm up and wants to know if its true. They have a Baptismal Date for the 19th of April.

We are also working hard with Anabela. She is the girlfriend of one of the members here in the Stake. We had a very spiritual lesson with her yesterday. She really felt the love that God has for us and her boyfriend Edgar helped her a lot. Her really wants her to join the church and has been a great help. 

Well we will miss Elder Alvarez but we know that he is where he needs to be. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Elder Lightheart

Week 52 Letter March 10, 2014

Hello Everybody!

This week was a little crazy! The weather was all over the place, hot one day, cold the next, windy the other, and raining as well. We were busy and going to all kinds of meetings. BUT, we had a baptism so it all turned our well!

So we had two baptisms on Saturday. The first one was Sugey. The rest of her family had already been baptized but she still was not sure. It was great to help her join the rest of her family in the waters of baptism. The other baptism was Pedro, the brother in the wheelchair. For me, the baptism was very special because of the help of the ward with him. All of the ward was asking about him and wondering how they could help us to help him. One of the brothers in the ward, hermano Fred, baptized him and I was also there to help him in and out of the water.

It was a great experience. A lot of people came to see the baptism and were able to experience the Spirit as those two entered into the waters of baptism. It made me smile at how anxious the people were to see the baptism. Even the people who are not members were crowding around to be able to see what the baptism is. I am so glad that the Lord has given us the authority to act in his name and do baptisms so that we all can return to him. 

Well the baptism was a little crazy as well though. We got a call at 4, an hour before the baptism, that nobody had gone to fill up the font. Luckily we were already ready but the problem is that it takes 3 hours for the font to fill up by itself. SO, we took a taxi to get there faster and started filling the font with buckets. Then as we got more help. Elder Alvarez and I took the mop carts outside and filled them up with a faucet. Then we would run them inside to dump it in the font. We probably had a little too much fun with that. However, thanks to our valient effort the font was filled on time!

Thanks for all of your letters and prayers.

Until Next Week

Elder Lightheart

Week 51 Letter March 3, 2014

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great week! I had a good time down here in Mexico. We were all over the place this week. Thats because Elder Valenzuela, a 70 of the Chuch came to visit the mission this week.

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Minatitlan. And then Friday and Saturday we went to Villahermosa. We did not have too much time to work in our area, but sure learned a lot. I think what I liked the most was when he talked about the power of prayer. He shared with us 3 Nephi 19:19-24 which says:

9 And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst ofthem, and went a little way off from them and ^abowed himself to the earth, and he said:

 20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost untothese whom I have ^achosen; and it is because of their belief in methat I have chosen them out of the world.

 21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto allthem that shall believe in their words.

 22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because theybelieve in ^ame; and thou seest that they believe in me becausethou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto mebecause I am with them.

So if we believe in his words and pray unto him we will have the Holy Ghost with us. He then urged us to pray more. He told us that we should always be looking for opportunities to pray. To use this tool that the Lord has given us to communicate with our Father. As we use prayer with faith, I know that we can recieve the answer.

I also really felt the importance of having inspired leaders in the Church. I know that God guides and directs the leaders he has called. Each and every one of them has not only the ability but the right to recieve revelation from God to do the work in there organazations. As we work with and through these leaders, miracles do happen. 

Well We are going to have a baptism this week!! Elder Alvarez and I are going to do the baptism together! Ok well Technically I am going to be the only one but since the brother is in a Wheelchair Elder Alvarez will be there to help me out. I am excited for to see him baptized. We will also be baptizing Sugey!

Well thanks for all of your support and prayers!

Until Next Week

Elder Lightheart