Week 63 Letter May 26, 2014

Hello Family!

Hope you are all doing well! How is everything going? It has continued to be hot in Mexico, but it’s OK because we have been at the work of the Lord.

Well, the best news about this week was definitely the three baptisms we had! Miriam, Mariane, and Kevin all got baptized.  They were very excited all week long and it ended in a great baptism service at the end.  A lot of people from the ward were able to go.  Mayra gave a talk and it was awesome.  She spoke like she had been a member her whole life and she had been a member her whole life and she has just barely completed a month as a member.  She shared her experience of being baptized with everyone and it really strengthened all of us.  Elder Struthers and I performed the ordinances.  Probably the best part was that Miriam’s husband came.  It was the first time we had met him and we could definitely see the effect the spirit had on him.

Apart from that, we are also going to have a baptism in the coming weeks.  Estefania is still really excited for her baptism.  She also came to the baptism and she really enjoyed it.  She told us afterwards that she wants her baptism to be just like Miriam’s.

She has accepted everything we have taught her so far.  She did have a little difficulty with the ward of wisdom.  She felt like it would be hard to leave behind coffee and tea.  Luckily, mayra and Fredy are a big help.  They assured her that it can be done.  That they were able to leave it all behind to follow God’s will.  We only have a couple of lessons left to teach her and she will be ready for baptism. 

The rest of the week went really well today.  We actually learned how to make hammocks.  One of the elders in our zone, Elder Mayers, came over to our house and showed us how to do it.  It was a lot of fun. It took a couple hours and we were only able to make one about 6 inches wide.  But it was really fun to learn!

Thanks for all of your prayers,

Elder Lightheart

Week 62 Letter May 19, 2014

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a great week! We had a fantastic week here in Coatzacoalcos.  This area is amazing.  I am very glad to be serving in in Mirador.

It was a great week mostly because I finally was in my area all week.  We had been really busy recently with mission related travel so it was great to be a little more calm throughout the week.

We did start with divisions (exchanges) this week. Elder Struthers went over to a town called Allende.  A new Elder named Elder Hernandez came over here.  He is from Cancun and only has one month in the mission.  We had a ton of fun and a lot of success.  We gave a lot of extremely good lessons during the day and I felt like we were able to help out a lot of people.  We also were able to help one family paint part of their house.  It was fun to help them out.  Elder Hernandez left super excited about missionary work.

Elder Struthers returned and we continued to have a very successful week.  The best news is we will be having a baptism on Friday! Actually, it should be a family of three: Miriam (the Mom), Mariana (13-year-old daughter) and Kevin (11-year-old son).  Sister Miriam is the daughter of Sister Lulu who was baptized about a year ago.  Miriam is extremely excited to be baptized.  She has changed a lot in a very short time that we have been teaching her.  At first, she did not want much to do with us and nothing with the Book of Mormon. Now, she calls herself a member.  She even came to the church on Friday to help with cleaning the chapel! I'll let you know next week how the baptism went.

Probably the coolest part is that Miriam has two siblings in Oregon! They are from the town of Florence, Oregon.  Hopefully, they will also be able to listen the the gospel someday as well.

Mayra and Fredy continue to be amazing.  Fredy has basically prepared his sister to be baptized in two weeks.  We have a baptismal date set with Estefania for the 7th of June.  He is also going with us to visit a sick brother tonight and he is going to make food for him as well.  I am excited to see him bless the sacrament on Sunday.

Apart from the work, Elder Struthers and I had a ton of fun this week.  We went out and played soccer in the street with the kids and it was a blast.  I am sure we looked like idiots but it was fun to play with the kids.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Elder Lightheart

Week 61 Mother's Day Phone Call May 12, 2014

It was amazing to talk to Elder Lightheart by skype on Mother's Day.  He looked and sounded great!  He has always been such a happy person and it was fun to see that again.

Week 60 Letter May 5, 2014

Hello Everyone!

Happy 5 de Mayo! Hope you are all having a good one! It has been a fun one down here so far!

Sorry for not writing last week! I kind of got a little busy, I was helping out the President quite a bit. I had to go to Villahermosa twice and both times and short notice. It was a great week despite being a little rushed all week.

I was not able to tell you last week but we had three baptisms!!! Two Saturdays ago on the 26th of April we baptized Mayra, Fredy and Anabela. We actually had two seperate baptismal services. We baptized Mayra and Fredy first. Elder Struthers and I had the opportunity to do the ordanance for them. It was a great service. We had lot of members there and they were all really excited to accept them into the ward. Probably the best part was when Mayra bore her testimony at the end of the baptism. She is so happy to be a member of the church. The change in this couple really amazed me and I am glad that I was able to be a part of their conversion. 

Anabela´s baptism was also great. Her boyfriend Edgar came to do the baptism to do the ordanance and brought most of his family. It was great to have the chapel full for both of the a baptisms but with all different people. Anabela´s sister, Nadxiely also came to the baptism. It was a great experince for the two of them. Anabela for her baptism and for Nadxiely as she was able to feel the spirit. We are now teaching her and she will hopefully be baptised soon.

Well this Sunday was a little crazy because we had change in bishop. Hermano Fred just became our bishop. It made church rather busy but we are very excited to work with him as our Bishop. We know that we will have a lot of success with him as our bishop.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Elder Lightheart