Elder Benjamin Michael Salazar

2010-03-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

To my family and friends, Thank you!!

2010-03-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Dear family and friends,

My 24 months, 2 years, 700+ days, 18 changes have all...come to an end.

This is my last week here in the Mexico Leon Mission and before departing I would just like to take a minute and thank you all.

Thank you for the money you have donated so I would never be hungry and could always enjoy a treat and pay for transportation to take investigators to church. Thank you for your emails of gratitude and encouragement, I can honestly say that I have never been "forgotten" or been so old in the mission that I didn’t receive any more mail as some missionaries claim. Thank you for the packages that brightened my day and the cards and pictures that made me laugh and brought a smile to my face even when things weren’t going as I would have like them to. Thank you for always remembering me and the missionaries in your prayers, I know that much of the success the lord has given me has been due to your prayers and faithfulness.

I am so grateful for family and friends that care. I have always had you behind me to push and encourage me when I needed it most, for this I will be eternally grateful.

I know that God is our father. He did appear to Joseph Smith with his son Jesus Christ. Representing the Savior, His church and spreading his gospel has taught me and brought me so much Joy that it makes it difficult for me to come home. I had a hard time coming to the mission now it’s hard for me to leave!! I hope that all of you who have supported me can be present at my homecoming which will be the 28th of this month in Garden Grove 6th Ward so I can personally thank you.

This is Jesus Christ’s church, his teachings and ordinances have been restored along with the Authority to teach and administer them! We live in the greatest and last dispensation of all times to be able to teach these things to our brothers and sisters that don’t know them.

Con mucho amor escribo estas cosas,
(with much love, I write these things)

Elder Salazar

Four confirmations. ZL training. New AP's. New ZL's. 7265 blog hits.

2010-03-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Elders Trejo, Maxfield, Toutai, Salazar, Callen

Hey Mom, and Dad,

This week went ok for us. This month we baptized eight people the first week of the month, but four of them were never confirmed due to the fact that on Sundays instead of coming to church they went to other places. Finally this last Sunday we got them to church and confirmed! A baptism doesn't count till it’s confirmed.

The last zone leader council went really great. I trained the Zone leaders on the importance of numbers. It was a great ZL council. Its official, Elder Sherman is out of the offices and now up in "La Joya" or aka Arbide2 as a ZL. That's where Elder Maxfield and I were Zone leaders together before coming to the offices. I really enjoyed my time in La Joya, its up in the hills of Leon above the city. Our new APs will be Elder Toutai (my old comp from Celaya) and Elder Trejo (who was in Irapuato with me when we used to go to Abasolo). They are great elders and I am really excited for them. Good luck to Elder Toutai, he is going to be in the offices till November and it will be his job to welcome the new Mission President, one word...STRESS. He will do great though. He and I were great companions and great friends in Celaya.

This week president is sending Elder Callen and me out to travel the mission and work with other companionship's for the week. Elder Callen will be going to San Luis Potosi and I will be going to Celaya, then Wednesday morning, Elder Callen and I will rendezvous in Aguascalientes to work with the ZL´s and some other companionship's there that are struggling. Friday evening we will come home together. It should be a fun week. When I travel I feel like the days go by so fast, it also gives me a great opportunity to meet other Elders and help them in their areas. Elder Maxfield will stay behind to show Elder Toutai and Elder Trejo their areas and train them in their duties.

15 more days till we see each other again. I feel a great excitement about going home to my family and new life. My branch president in Cardenas once taught me that in a young mans life there is never a greater time where he is so close to the hand of the lord, than when he is on a mission. The lord literally guides his every foot step and sends angels daily to protect him, bless him, inspire and console him. I don't know how any missionary would want to leave this feeling no matter how far away they are from home, so because of that I feel a profound sadness.

I get home Monday and on Tuesday morning I plan on doing a personal trip to the Newport Beach temple. It’s almost been 2 years since I've been through an endowment session at the temple. You never know how much the temple means to you till you don't have the opportunity to attend regularly.

Well I have to get going; Elder Callen and I are going downtown to do some shopping before we head out. My time is coming to an end and I am trying to make every minute count.

Love ya!

Elder Salazar

*A picture of the new APs, along with a picture of me "Fast and Furiously" going to get investigators in the van. Lol =D

Baptism. Sore foot. Training. 7115 blog hits

2010-02-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Elder Salazar, Pres. Cox, and Celaya (Mission Cat)

Hey Mom and Dad,

Good to hear things are going well. Sis. Cox told me she had called and had a good talk with mom. She also told me about her friends that were in the FBI. I think she is going to get me their Emails or something so that I can talk to them about joining. Funny that Sis. Cox told you I have been limping around, I do limp a little bit but Sis. Cox has me taking Ibuprofen everyday again and my foot feels good when I take it but the reason I stopped taking it was because I was building a resistance to it, 3 or 4 weren’t even working. Now I am taking 2 again. I would like to have that foot surgery as soon as possible. this whole foot thing is getting really tiring.

That’s awesome that Julius and Dennis got their mission calls! Both will be great missions!! Congrats!!

Things are going ok here. We are really low on baptisms this month in the mission, partly due to the fact that this is a short month and a lot of elders were just caught off guard. We were able to baptize a young man here named Benjamin, his baptism went well. We have been working with Benjamin since the beginning of January and his conversion has been quite difficult but he has finally made the decision and was baptized this past Saturday. Jorge is doing well; we met and are teaching his wife now. They are such great people; they have a certain spirit about them. The wife is a little skeptical but she is a great person and came to church last week. They actually fed us dinner Saturday night! Jorge told us that he knows the book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. Guadalupe (the wife) is reading but hasn’t prayed yet. I think she knows that if she prays something will happen, she might be just a little scared of the commitment due to the fact that her entire family is catholic. Especially at this time because she is 3 months pregnant and I think her family is pressuring her to baptize the baby once it’s born. We are praying for them, but I know they both will eventually be baptized.

This last week should be huge in the mission as far as baptisms go, pray for us. Today we are having zone leader council. This will be my last time training and I will be giving my last ZL-Council testimony. I have been to a million of these councils, they are so much fun, and I get to see a lot of my old companions. The new assistants should be coming in this Friday, I know who they are but I can’t say publicly!! We are sworn to secrecy until they arrive to the offices. One of them is my old companion.

So I received an Email from the mom of a family of my converts from back in Irapuato, It turns out they are going to the Mexico City Temple in May to get sealed as a family, and I believe their son will be receiving his Endowments to get ready to leave on a mission!! The mom asked if I could be a witness in her sealing. I have yet to reply to her, because I don’t know what my plans will be in May but I did have the Travel secretary here look up flights. He found on Expedia a trip package. It’s a round trip flight and a 2 night stay at a pretty nice hotel for $290, so if I have any money left over I might consider a quick trip to Mexico City just to be present in their Sealing and his Endowment session.

About the trainer we found in "Ropa Civil" (plain clothes), haha. He’s actually a really great Elder, he felt so bad he called President Cox and apologized. President had no Idea he was walking around in normal clothes but the Elder figured that us (the assistants) were going to tell Pres. Cox (which we weren’t), so He decided to call president and apologize before we could tell President.

Gotta run, but its amazing how things are slowly changing and coming to an end. Sis. Cox forgot to tell you on the phone that the Stake President needs to be prepared to release me the day I arrive, but I don’t think Ill have a problem getting in touch with him =).

Love,

Elder Salazar

Working hard, Investigator. 6990 blog hits.

2010-02-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Elders Callen, Maxfield, Salazar & Pres. Cox
Hey mom and dad,

Huge week! I love the news!!!

First off, Congratula-tions Justin and Vanessa!!!!! I am very excited! Your pictures look great. I am glad I will be home in time to for the wedding.

Secondly, congratulations Uncle Bob and Aunt Pat! This is a HUGE surprise to me. I dont want to say too much about the Mexico East mission but let me give just a few facts... 2 years ago the Mexico East mission broke a church record by baptizing over 1000 people in one month. The Mission Mexico East is the highest baptizing mission in Mexico and quite possibly the world, we came in 2nd to them this last year for 2009. The Mexico East mission also covers the Mexico City Temple. Just after reading your email I called President Cox and told him that my Great-Uncle had been called as Mission president, He was very excited. President Cox is very good friends with the current Mexico East President, President Bullock (I believe is his name).

This last week we found an amazing person. His name is Jorge. Jorge owns a Cybercafe. Tuesday while we were knocking we found him and taught him the 1st lesson, the restoration. He asked us to come back Saturday so his wife could listen. Jorge seemed like an Ok investigator. So we went back saturday and it turns out his wife really didnt want to listen to us, so much so that she left the house before we got there. But Jorge was very interested! He asked US if he could become a member of the church. It turns out that during the week he read the Pamphlet over and over again, then he went online to the church website and looked up all the information he could, and throughout the week he studied the church and basically convinced himself that this "is the true church." He came to church with us Sunday and even put on a tie by himself. We are excited because as of lately we have been having a hard time finding people to teach but Jorge is a gift from God, he truly has been prepared.

Things here are going ok, right now the mission is struggling a little bit in baptisms. February is a short month and due to the fact that the area presidency has asked us to take investigators to church 3 weeks in a row before baptizing them, the adjustment has been difficult for some companionships. Also, we have gotten our Pdays back and the Elders are just a tiny bit distracted. Other than that, not much is going on.

I am truckin along but I cant deny that it is soo hard knowing that first, my replacement assistant will be here in about two weeks, and I am going home soon. Everytime I think about it I get a sick feeling in my stomach, but we are still working hard. In closing, I sent you my travel plans! They arrived today.

I gotta run but I love you all and the future looks very bright.

Love,

Elder Salazar

Baptism's. Rain. P-days again. 6870 blog hits.

2010-02-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

(Click on image to enlarge)

Hey mom and dad,

We had a great week. We baptized 7 people this week and all the baptisms went great. We baptized a family of 4 along with 3 kids of a less active woman. Things are going well here in the offices; we are staying strong and working hard. We had 3 straight days of non-stop rain Tues., Wed. and Thurs., which made working a lot of fun.

We actually started having P-days again starting last week but due to the changes and the new missionaries we really weren’t able to leave and do anything. Yes the Elder Salazar that wrote me on my blog did get here last week; he’s a nice kid and can speak Spanish ok. He will be a future leader.

Today we plan on going downtown to buy some shoes. There is a shoe factory called Emyco, they make really nice dress shoes and we are going to the factory outlet where they sell them at a really low price. Emyco also makes CAT work boots, Elder Callen is going to buy a pair to use while working on his farm back home. Also I am going to look into buying a new suit. They sell suits here for about 100 dollars or Mil pesos(1000).

Thanks a lot for working on scheduling my homecoming talk. Be sure to thank the bishopric and the Traders for being flexible. A missionary just came home in our ward here and the bishop didn’t notify him of his homecoming talk, so on the day of Fast and Testimony meeting at the last moment he asked him to come up and talk. Due to Confirmations, blessings and starting late, the missionary only was able to speak about 6 minutes, nevertheless he was great. He has also been helping us out a lot here.

Things are going great here. The bishop here is really starting to pick things up, our converts are receiving the priesthood, callings, assignments etc. That makes us feel good because we know that once we leave the area our converts will stay strong and won’t be so dependant on us.

We had a really great dinner last night with President and Sis. Cox. They are so much fun. President really lights up sometimes, it’s great because all of us here in the offices and president get along really well. I feel like president really trusts us, at least more than the other assistants.

It feels weird knowing that in 5 weeks I won’t be here anymore. It still hasn’t really sunk in but I know the end is near. I am definitely coming home the 15th but my departure and arrival times are not set yet. In the last group that left there was an Elder Holmes from Glendora. He flew home to Ontario airport and arrived at 2pm. I Imagine I will arrive at LB around that time. Once I have my travel plans Ill email you to let you know.

Love you lots,

Elder Salazar

(Click on image to enlarge)

Elder DeHoyos (Area Presidency) visits mission. Baptisms. 7 new missionaries arrive. 6740 blog hits

2010-02-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

AP's and Elder Banjamin DeHoyos and wife. (click image to enlarge)

Hey Mom & Dad,

So I am once again writing a little later than usual. Today we had departures and arrivals. 4 Americans and 6 Mexican elders arrived. We got up at 3:30 and were out the door around 4:20 to take the Elders to the airport to head home. Then we had to make changes in the mission at 11:00. The new Mexican elders arrived at 12:00 and the Americans arrived by plane at 3:30. We have had quite a long day. Sis Cox fed them, President interviewed them and we trained them and sent them out to their new areas. Right now I am tired!! We actually just received a new Elder from Utah that has the last name Salazar. It was fun meeting him and knowing that even when Im gone, there will still be another Elder Salazar here to carry the torch.
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This has been a really great week. We had the opportunity to hear Elder Benjamin DeHoyos and his wife speak. They brought the spirit really really strong in their talks. Sis. DeHoyos spoke on connecting the Atonement to teaching our investigators, she was great. Elder DeHoyos spoke to us about the gathering of israel. They are really really loving, down to earth people. They have a son named Esteban who is about to leave on his mission to Portugal.

We had a couple of baptisms this week. We had ANOTHER couple get married. One named Rodolfo and his wife Martina. These people truly were prepared. Every chapter we left them to read in the Book of Mormon they read TWICE! We taught them about the law of tithing and they started paying tithing even BEFORE their baptism, they truly are great people, they love us and we love them. Their baptism went really well and we will always remember them and their conversion.
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It's sad to think that this is my last change and that I really am on the clock now. I am slowly coming to the realization that the mission does come to an end, this isn't some timeless dream. I honestly hope my last change is my slowest passing change yet.
.

Well I have to run but enjoy a few pictures! =D

.
Love Elder Salazar

Elder De Hoyos Mission Tour. Baptised family of three. 6650 blog hits

2010-01-27T05:07:00.000-08:00

Elders hitchhiking (click on image to enlarge)

Hey mom and dad,

This last week went pretty well. We got a family married here and it was a great moment to see them be baptized. It was a mom, dad and their son.

As Assistants we have been pretty busy. Elder Benjamin De Hoyos is coming tomorrow (Thursday) and he will be here through Sunday doing a "Mission Tour". Elder De Hoyos is the lst Counselor to Elder Johnson the Area President of Mexico; he will be traveling around the entire mission doing conferences, meeting missionaries as well as local stake leaders. We are getting everything ready for his trip so it will run smoothly.

Lately I have been receiving calls from the assistants in the Guadalajara North Mission asking me what it is that we are doing in our mission to have so much success. Ironically the Assistants in Guadalajara North are brothers of two missionaries from this Mission. Elder Barajas (who was an assistant here in Leon and whom I have worked with before) and Elder Trejo whose brother is a Zone leader here. Also, we came in 2nd to Mexico City East for the year in baptisms. =( we are still happy though. We ended the year with close to 3000 converts. This is pretty amazing considering there are only 150 missionaries in the Mexico Leon Mission. Mexico City East has about 30 more elders than us. We did win in % of baptisms per elder, which were about 19 per elder. 2nd place was 16.

Monday and today (Tuesday) we had Zone leader council. I have one more zone leader council and I am done =(. We have some great Zone leaders, very powerful and dedicated to their zones. We decided to make Elder Su'a a zone leader, you may remember him. He is from the City of Torrance. He’s a great Elder, somehow he even knows Michael Aiono. This Tuesday I will be starting my last transfer. 6 more weeks and it’s all over for me. Elder Verdeja is going to be making my travel plans this week. He says he’s going to be able to get me into Long Beach.

Anyways, sorry I can’t write more but next week I can give a better summary of the events.

I sent you a photo. We usually hitch hike rides here in Leon to get around faster. Here’s a ride we hitched one day.

Congratulations to Michael Aiono for making it home safe and in one piece, but more than anything returning with honor.

Love you all!

Elder Salazar

Elder Callen, Maxfield. 150 baptism's. Dos Por Dios. 6550 blog hits.

2010-01-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

Elder Callen and Salazar (click on image )

Hey dad,

Things are well here. Sorry for writing late, we have been very busy today.

Last week we got a couple married here in Leon, and right after we had them married we went straight to the church and had them baptized. It was a great baptism. Here in the mission we are busy getting things ready for the visit of a general authority to our mission. It will be a 70 but I can't say who yet! You'll have to wait until the 27th of this month to find out.

We have some great investigators right now. This Sunday we were able to bring 10 investigators to church. We have an older couple we are teaching, the man is named Rodolfo and his wife is named Mati. They really love us. They are already inviting us to dinner. They just need to get married but they are definitely going to get baptized. This past Sunday they paid their tithing and they aren't even members yet. Its amazing how the lord prepares people. I am enjoying my time with Elder Callen and Elder Maxfield. We work hard, all the while having fun, it makes the hours fly by. Some days we dont even realize we have worked 10 hour. The days and weeks fly by now, and we dont realize we have worked 60+ hours weeks.

The mission is doing ok. Right now we have around 175 baptisms and we are hoping to end with 350, we only have two weeks to do it but I know we can. Something weird about the Mexico, Leon mission is that we are alot like the NY Yankees, we come through at the very end. We usually baptize most of our people the last two weeks of the month, making our goal. We are still working on getting the new vision drilled into the minds of every elder here. It takes time and redundance. We constantly have to be reminding them of "Dos por Dios" (Two for God). Once the missionaries start thinking about baptizing only 2 every week instead of 8 a month they wont be so stressed, they can focus on the small goals all the while progressing towards the real goal. As for our mission coming in 1st in Mexico for the year, we still dont know yet. The report from Salt Lake still isnt here yet but I imagine it will be here this week.

Anyways, I am really excited to hear that Seth Trader was called to a Canadian spanish speaking mission. I had the opportunity to work with ex-assistant Elder Schow whom is from canada. Elder Schow was a really awesome Elder who was just great in everything he did. I know that Seth will really enjoy Canada while having the benefit of learning a foreign language. I meet a lot of people here in leon who have lived, or have family living in Canada. He will have his hands full!! I am so grateful for having accepted a mission call. I know that this is what the lord had prepared for me. How great a calling to be teaching people about the restored gospel, and helping them become members of the true church. Lately we have been listening to missionary president seminars, as well as Elder Tad R. Callister, Elder Jeffery R Holland and Elder Dallin H. Oaks last conference talks. They are really inspiring, so much so that we usually listen to one of them before we leave the offices to work.

Love you all!

Elder Salsa

Aguascaliente housing tract (click on image)

Arbide. 21st birthday. 6430 blog hits

2010-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

“The field is white already to harvest” (D&C 4:4).
Hey mom and dad,

It feels weird to know its 2010 and that I am now 21. Although, it does feel good to be growing and progressing. MY Bday went well. On Wednesday we had a zone conference in Irapuato. When we got back to Leon, Sis. Cox invited us and the Office Secretaries to come over later in the evening for chocolate cake. So after working we went over to president’s house and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, and I got to blow out 21 candles. It was a special night. The cake was really good. Sis. Cox is everything you think she is, loving, kind and patient. She’s always thinking of the missionaries and she truly does love them. I have been blessed to be close to her and president and I see them in their real character and they are truly loving and thoughtful.

That’s good that Nathan found a nice place to live. Does this mean I get the town home????!? LOL

Sorry to hear that Ski Brodowski passed away, I am pretty sure I met him. Either way the Brodowski’s are a great family and I know he must have been a great person to raise such a great family.

Things went well this week. We traveled to all the Zone Conferences with President and Sis. Cox, and gave some training to start the New Year. It was fun to see some of my old companions that I hadn’t seen for awhile such as Elder Whittle, Elder Krebs and Elder Toutai. The Conferences went really well, everyone came out inspired.

Anyways, the mission is going well. We are working hard and the mission is running smoothly. Friday morning at 5am, Elder Maxfield and I drove president out to the airport so he could travel to Mexico City for a meeting with the other mission presidents and the area presidency. You may not have noticed, but 6 months ago they changed the Area Presidency here in Mexico. The old area presidency was President Mickelson, 1st councilor Elder C. Scott Grow and 2nd Councilor Octaviano Tenorio. Elder Mickelson has been a huge help to the Mexico, Leon mission, he and president were really great friends and he gave president some great ideas to pick up the mission. Now the new area presidency is President Daniel L. Johnson, 1st councilor Benjamin D. Hoyos and 2nd councilor Octaviano Tenorio. The new presidency is coming up with some great new ideas for the New Year. They are taking Mexico in a new direction. It’s exciting to see the plans they are making.

Anyways, I am dong well, and we are working hard. Time is short but we are trying to take advantage of every moment.

Love Elder Salazar

Leon. Baptism's. 370 baptism's for December. 6300 blog hits

2010-01-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Elder Salazar & Elder Robles (click on image to enlarge)

Hey mom & dad,

Things went really well in aguscalientes. There are 2 zones in AGS. One called Aguascalientes zone and the other called Aguasjardines zone. I am in charge of Aguasjardines. Things went well. I helped the zone leaders and a few of the other missionaries baptize. Aguasjardines is tied for 1st in the mission for baptisms right now. As for the mission goal of 1000 in December, we didnt do so well. We fell on our face, with only 370 baptisms. BUT we did learn ALOT about our member referal program and other things we did wrong etc etc. It was a good expierence that will help us in the future. Also, helping 370 people become members of the true church is not anything to feel bad about. We are still waiting for the yearly report for Mexico to see if we are the #1 mission of this 2009. We are hoping and praying we make it!!
*
That's cool Nate found a place to live, wheres he living now??? Is he closer to Best Buy?? Too bad he wont have Fantastic Burger so close, as we say in spanish "que lastima!" (too bad).
*
New years was ok for us as missionaries. We worked, came home, and Sis Cox made us a nice dinner and sent it to the offices (across the street from her house). Other than that not much was going on. Elder Pickett and Elder Call were in the offices because the next day they were scheduled to head home at 5am. They are heading home a month early to make it into school. Here in mexico the people get really fired up for New Years. People were partying till 7am. The next day when we got up and went to work, there were still people having partys and there was still people walking around. People shoot off alot of fireworks so its hard to tell if its gunfire.
*
Anyways, thank you Gma/Gpa Hicken and Gma/Gpa Salazar for the money!! I bought myself a new cologne for my bday. Its weird that I am 21 now, I feel like yesterday I was just turning 18 and graduating high school.
*
Things are going well in the mission, we are still sacrificing our Pdays. I havent had a pday since October! I think we will have pdays again in February. Also some cool news. I just received my Departure form. I am already filling out my travel plans to come home, crazy!!
*
Anyways, love you and miss you. Pero nos veremos muy pronto. Me da felicidad y tambien tristeza porque amo la mision y no quiero regresarme a casa!! (editors translation: "We will see each other soon. I am happy and also sad because I love my mission and I do not want to return home")

Amorosamente,
("Lovingly")

Elder Salazar

Recent Baptism (click on image to enlarge)

Christmas Eve in the mission hm. BMS phone home. 6210 blog hits

2009-12-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve in the Mission Home
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hola madre y padre

I agree the phone call was great. I was very happy to have talked to you. Xmas eve was great here, as you can see from Sis Cox´ blog we had a lot of fun.

THANK YOU FOR THE GIFTS!! I liked the socks! Too bad I couldn’t talk to the grandparents but I am glad I got to talk to the all the brothers.

We are now getting ready for January. Once January is over I only have February and that’s it, I am done. I am trying to keep the same pace I have always had in the mission so I keep working harder and harder, and harder!!

I’m about to jump on a bus to Aguascalientes to go out and do some divisions to help some people get baptized in other areas. Ill probably be back in Leon on Wednesday.

I enjoyed xmas and the phone call. Pretty soon well be talking in person! love ya!

Elder Salazar
Send everyone my love...

Happy bday Erica!

http://bobandbeckycoxfamily.blogspot.com/

Elder Salazar and Mission Hm cat (Celaya)
(Click on image to enlarge)

Arbide. Elder Maxfield. 2 Baptism's. 6130 blog hits.

2009-12-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hey mom & dad,

I am writing a little bit late, today has been SUPER busy. On Saturday and again today we had to get up at 3:30am to take missionaries to the airport and see them off. We had to be at the airport in Silao by 5am. Also today we had to make over 35 missionary changes and make sure they got off to their new areas and then we welcomed 11 new Hispanic elders and 1 new American elder to the mission. We have been very busy training and teaching the newbie’s. Anyways, not too much is going on here. We have been working really hard and have about 11 people baptized this month, we have 4 more people ready to be baptized but 2 need to get married, and the civil register is closed here until the new year =(. Which puts a hold on things.

Elder Hatton went home today, he was one of the old assistants and a good friend of Elder Callen and I. I must admit, Hatton leaving, made me realize that I do have a lot of time here in the mission, almost 21 months. Elder Hatton was one of the hardest working elders in the mission, but he was one of the funnest to be around. He has had more success in the Mexico, Leon mission than ANY other missionary in the history of Mexico Leon. He ended up with about 200 baptisms.

I got the Fed-Ex envelope with my driver’s license, some pictures and everything. Thanks! I really, really enjoyed the pics. The second Christmas package never arrived, but don’t worry about it, I am not really going to need anything for the rest of my mission. But when we have p-days again in February, I plan on buying a new suit, a pair of dress shoes and souvenirs for the family.

I was glad to hear that Justin is well and didn’t re-injure his knee again.

I sent a few pictures. One is of a baptism we had. We recently baptized a family of 5, and last week we FINALLY baptized the dad!! There is another picture of a person we baptized who is deaf and speech impaired (the one w/the glasses).

President gave me permission to call on Christmas Eve. I will actually be able to call YOU, instead of you calling me! I look forward to talking to the family on Xmas eve.

Love ya!!

Elder Salazar

Asistente al Presidente Cox.

Elder Hatton

Arbide & Loma Bonita. Baptism. Maxfield & Callen. 6050 blog hits

2009-12-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

President Cox with Elders Callen, Maxfield & Salazar
click on image to enlarge

Hey mom, and dad,

Thanks for your email! I am really short on time because this is the last week of the changes and we have to take an elder home a week early because he lives in Argentina. We just had breakfast at Presidents house. Sis Cox made scrambled eggs and we had OJ and ham left over from last night. It was great. As for eating dinner with Pres and Sis Cox on Sunday nights, it’s a lot of fun. At 6pm we (assistants) have a meeting with president and we go over the weeks numbers, baptisms, problems etc. We discuss the mission and the elders. Then at 7 we have dinner with Pres. And Sister Cox. The ambiance is really great. President really opens up and we all talk about the mission, life back home, movies etc etc. We eat well and have a lot of fun. Right after dinner is over we go back to business.

As an assistant I make about 500 phone calls a week because we are constantly calling the zone leaders and making sure everyone is working and baptizing. Right now I am still in the same zone (West Leon) and I go to the same building, until this next Monday (when we receive new zone leaders). So for now I am still going to Arbide and the other ward called Loma Bonita.

This last week went ok, we baptized a girl named Lucy. Her mom and the rest of her family were baptized last week, now we are working on baptizing the dad.

Sorry to hear about Justin, I hope he gets better soon and hasn’t done anymore damage.

I still don’t know anything about the phone call but I am pretty sure that president will let me call Christmas Eve. I will let you know as soon as I know. All is well here; I am still waiting for my package and license to get here.

Anyways, I gotta run but thanks for everything!

Love ya!!!

ELDER SALAZAR

*** HAPPY BDAY NATE! ***

Loma Bonita. Elder Maxfield. Moved into mission home. 5940 Blog hits

2009-12-07T10:03:00.001-08:00

Elders Hatten, Robles, Salazar & Maxfield
click image to enlarge

Hello mom, dad and family,

This was the first real week in the offices. Elder Maxfield, Elder Callen and I have officially moved into the offices. There are 7 of us living here right now. Elder Verdeja (my old comp from Cardenas) whom is the Executive Secretary in the mission, Elder Sherman who is the Financial secretary, Elder Hatton and Elder Schow who are the old assistants, Elder Maxfield, Elder Callen and myself. We have a lot of fun but we are all working really hard. Elder Hatton and Elder Schow are really good friends and they have been traveling the entire mission helping out the zone leaders. Elder Hatton is from Naples, Florida and Elder Schow is from a small town called "Medicine Hat, Canada". They are both really great elders, they will be leaving the 19th and 20th of this month to be home for Xmas.

I will not be working Arbide anymore; we will be focusing on the next area over from ours called Loma Bonita. I am a little worried about my new area, only because the assistants have been working this area the last 10 years. Just imagine 10 years of the most dedicated, hardest workers, the best teachers, best door knockers, you would think that the area is literally overworked. I feel under qualified but I know that with the help of Elder Maxfield and Elder Callen we can find investigators and baptize.

Some other great news...! This last month, Elder Maxfield and I had the highest baptizing zone in the mission, also Elder Maxfield and I were the highest baptizers in the entire mission for the month of November. Overall, the month of November has been one of the best months of my mission by far.

Anyways... Some of the duties of assistants are... Provide Training for the ZL's and the other missionaries. Set goals for the mission. Be in charge of various ZL’s to make sure their Zones are working hard, baptizing and being obedient. Decide what the Mission studies in their companionship study. For example, this week we are studying Chapter 1 of Preach my Gospel "My Purpose as a Missionary", 1st and 2nd sections. Also, as assistants we should be setting an example for the whole mission, this is probably the most important duty. We have to be the most obedient, the hardest workers and we should always be contacting investigators and baptizing. We also take the elders who are going home to the airport and send them off. We receive the new elders who come from the US MTC and the Mexican CCM, and we give them a small training meeting. We get to drive mission vehicles (including presidents Trailblazer =)! and we eat dinner with Sister Cox on Sundays.

This week went well, we baptized 7 people! The baptisms went great. Things are going great here in the mission. We are working hard and having fun. It’s a lot of stress, but it’s the same stress I felt when I first became a ZL, and I know that with time, instead of stress I will feel confidence!

Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Salazar

Arbide. Elder Maxfield. New assignment: Assistant to the President. 5850 blog hits

2009-11-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Zone Leaders (Click on image to enlarge)

Hey Mom and Dad,

First off, HAPPY BDAY MOM!

Thanksgiving was great here. Sis Cox made a great Thanksgiving dinner and the table was beautiful. We had the opportunity to meet their son Matthew and his wife. They are really nice people. He wants to be a doctor and is studying at BYU, they were married in February. They are great people and you can see a lot of President Cox´ attributes in his son, but more so Sister Cox. We all had a chance to talk of one thing we were grateful for. I expressed my gratitude for having come on a mission because reflecting back I was really on the fence about coming. Coming here on the mission has been one of the greatest decisions of my life. It’s a blessing to have great parents whom have instilled in me a love for the gospel. I think of all the blessings I have had as a small boy, how heavenly father sent me to a loving family whom has embraced the gospel and without the gospel the people here may never enjoy even 10% of the blessings I have enjoyed.

I am glad to hear all the brothers are doing well. I GOT YOUR XMAS PACKAGE, thank you!!!

Now for the big news...Last Monday I wrote you about a meeting we had with the stake president and all the bishops. Just to let you know, I reported on what was spoken in that meeting to President Cox so he would know. While we were talking on the phone he told me that he wanted Elder Maxfield and me in his office on Wednesday morning for a meeting with the stake president because we were going to discuss a few things about what was said. Wednesday morning came and Elder Maxfield and I showed up on time ready for the meeting but president really didn’t want us there to talk about the stake, he had tricked us. Instead he extended an assignment to Elder Maxfield and me to be his personal Assistants for the remainder of our time here in the mission. Obviously I didn’t want to, nor could I say no, so I accepted. Also Elder Callen will be an Assistant with us. The current assistants are Elder Schow and Elder Hatton but they will both be leaving on the 19th of December so they are training us on a few of the duties of being assistants. Some of the basic duties of being an assistant are having success in the mission, being a good example to the other missionaries, and making sure that the mission is progressing and having success. Some of the small benefits of being an assistant are having increased contact with President Cox, eating with President and his wife and being able to drive mission vehicles. I am excited, a little overwhelmed and honestly I feel under-qualified. But I know that if I am diligent and pay attention to the council that President Cox, Elder Schow and Elder Hatton give me. I can become the assistant that I am expected to be. Now I will be living in the mission home from here on for the rest of my mission.

Anyways, I love you mom and dad. I hope all goes well and you enjoy the real spirit of Christmas which is the birth of the savior Jesus Christ. He was born in the most humble of circumstances and as Isaiah says "he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death”. He was crucified among theives yet layed in the tomb of the richman Joseph of Arimatea.

I love you all and appreciate your support! I can’t write much today because we are having a zone leader council and we have to prepare capacitations.

Love you!!!

Love Elder Salazar

Miriam's baptism (Click on image to enlarge)

Arbide. Elders Maxfield, Granillo. Baptism. 5790 blog hits

2009-11-24T21:02:00.002-08:00

Elders Salazar, Maxfield, Granillo
Click on image to enlarge
Family

I was sorry to hear that Lou Stokes passed away. I remember that he was always really loving, and he always kept a light, loving atmosphere.

As far as my foot goes, I am not taking anything right now. When it hurts a little more than usual I take an Ibuprofen.

This last week went well. Miriam was baptized and the baptism went off without a hitch. We had kind of an interesting meeting yesterday with the stake president and all the bishops in the stake here. Ever since the Mexico Leon mission started to baptize over 250 people every month the bishops have kind of had a hard time dealing with so much progress so fast. They have found that since we are baptizing so many people, they are having a hard time handling retention, callings, ordinations, visiting teaching, interviews, and preparing people to go to the temple and so forth. They seem to feel that whatever little problem happens in their ward, for some reason it’s the "missionaries fault". So last night the bishop asked (with the permission of President Cox) that elder Maxfield, myself, elder Callen and elder Trejo (the other zone leaders in Leon) to come to a meeting with ALL the bishops in the stake. Basically for 2 hours we were asked to defend every little decision we have made and explain why our elders do what they do. They question whether we are baptizing because it is what the lord wants or we are baptizing just to baptize and reach a goal. It was an interesting meeting to say the least.

This Thursday President and sis Cox invited elder Maxfield and me over for thanksgiving dinner. She bought a 22 pound turkey from Costco; the word for excited in Spanish is ANIMADO!! President’s youngest son is in Leon with his wife for thanksgiving so we will get to meet him. He is 23 and served his mission in Brazil. He was just married a few months back, in March I believe.

Anyways, gotta run but I am going to send a few pictures.

Love ya!

Elder Salazar

click on image to enlarge

Arbide. Elders Granillo, Maxfield. 4 baptism's. 5705 Blog hits

2009-11-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom, and dad,

This last week went really well. We were able to baptize 4 people, we have 9 baptisms this month with one more for the end of this week. We baptized the husband of Juana (the lady that contacted us in the street) and lately we have been working really hard to get her 14 year old daughter baptized, finally, this sunday she told us she wanted to get baptize but only if I would baptize her! So this thursday, Miriam will be baptized at 7pm.

All is going well. We are getting ready here in the mission for December. In December we plan on baptizing 1000 people. We started a very great referral program with the members, and we have received over 1000 references and names of people we can visit. So right now we are beginning to visit all them, so we have a ton of work! We also have to make sure that our elders are following through with the program. My foot is doing ok, Elder Maxfield is doing alot better. I may have not told you but Elder Granillo has 23 months, in the mission and it turns out he is going to have to leave the mission early due to schooling. He will probably leave the 20th or the 21st. We will miss him. Elder Ditto is doing well, he is zone leader in Aguascalientes.

My package still isnt here, and I suppose its not going to get here, because the seceretarys just went this last week to get pacakages and its still not here =(.

Anyways, I dont have much time, but I love and miss you. Adios!

Love Elder Salazar

A couple shoutouts...

* Felicidades Weston! Deacon, or in spanish Diacono!

* Felicidades Leah! Homecoming queen! In Mexico they dont have homecoming but if they did it would be something like this... Reyna de la escuela!!

Arbide. Elders Granillo, Maxfield. 5650 blog hits

2009-11-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom and dad,

Things are going well. Elder Maxfield and I are back to working. I am still experiencing pain in my foot, but I am still working till the end. This last week went well. My zone did pretty well in baptisms. Elder Maxfield, Granillo and I baptized 4 of the 5 we had planned. The 5th that didnt get baptized will be getting baptized tomorrow. That was a pretty interesting story you told me about your baptism. Lots of times thats what we do as missionaries. We usually interview the people though. In cardenas The one person I have personally baptized (the picture of me baptizing) was named Thomas. He was in the same situation you were in. His whole family are members, he supported the church and believed in much of the doctrine. One sunday I was sitting in priesthood and his name and his face just came into my mind. After church Elder Krebs and I walked straight to his house woke him up (because he was sleeping) and told him that he needed to get baptized. He agreed and was baptized two weeks later. It was probably one of my most special baptisms, maybe because hes the only person I have actually baptized. A member from cardenas wrote me two weeks ago and informed me that Thomas and his family are all active in the church. Yesterday (sunday) was the last day of the change, it turns out Elder Maxfield, Elder Granillo and I will all be staying together. This came as a surprise because we all thought elder maxfield was leaving. Elder Maxfield now has 14 months in this exact same ward! He was in Arbide 2 then was assigned as financial seceratary to pres.cox in arbide 1 for 10 months, now he is a zone leader back in arbide 2!

Anyways, not much going on here on this side of the border, we are just getting ready for christmas. The Elders in the mission offices are already listening to xmas music, makes me sick!! I would send pics, but I am on a good old 56k I am sure youll understand.

Love and miss you all.

Love Elder Salazar

Arbide. Elder Maxfield. Knee hurts. 5585 blog hits

2009-11-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

( click on image to enlarge)

Hey Mom and dad!

My week was pretty crazy. Let me start from the top. When Elder Maxfield was 14 yrs old he had two knee scopes on his left knee. On monday of this last week his knee started to swell up causing him pain and difficulty to bend his knee and walk. So he decided to rest his knee on Tuesday to see if it would do him anygood. I decided to go work with Elder Schow one of the AP´s on Tuesday . We were working really well but as we started to come down from the 5th floor of an apartment building I accidentally tripped and smacked my foot on the guard rail causing me extreme pain! I honestly thought that I had broken something or had done more damage to my foot, so much so, that I couldnt walk. We had to grab a taxi and head to the offices and grab some crutches. Long story short neither Elder Maxfield nor myself have worked this entire week. My foot is actually back to where it was before. I can walk now but still feel pain. Elder Maxfield hasn't improved. We actually took him to the hospital on Friday and he got an MRI. The doctors at the hospital told us that the cartilidge in his knee is deteriorating and its causing his body to send liquid to the knee, which causes him swelling and pain. We still dont know the exact results because we sent them to the LDS mission doctor, he will examine the MRI and Elder Maxfield will know what his options are. WE are praying that he doesnt need a surgery, because Elder Maxfield and I both go home in 4 months. He is happy and has high hopes for the future.

Other than that, not much news this week because we really havent been working. We didnt baptize this last week but this week we should be baptizing 5 people. A family of 3, and 2 others. To answer your question about me traveling. I do travel alone, but elder maxfield always accompany me to the bus depot. Being a zone leader and when we are doing a division we are authorized to be on the bus alone, but when I arrive to my destination there are always another set of elders waiting for me. I also have my own personal cell phone in case of emergency or if anyone needs to contact me. Dia de la muerte here has come and gone, very few children trick or treat here, but some do. Most people just put on their costumes. But the tradicion here in mexico is that on dia de la muerte, many families go to the grave sites of their loved ones and have a small picnic, they also share memories and I have even heard that they speak to their loved deceased ones as if they were present but I am not sure about that. We didnt do anything special here. But Sister Cox made Elder Maxfield and I chocolate chip cookies and small halloween treat bags, thanks sis cox!

I am doing well and for the moment I dont really need anything, I dont know why but my package still hasnt gotten here.

I love you all and miss you!

Elder Salazar

Arbide. Elder Mazfield. Baptism. 5515 blog hits

2009-10-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and dad,

This last week went well. We baptized a very nice woman named Juana. We met this woman while walking a few weeks back. As we passed her she asked us where we come from and what we did. We ended up making a return appointment to her house, and this last week she was baptized. She truly was prepared, the lord did put us in the right place at the right time and we helped Juana become a member of the true church.

This last week I have been traveling to other areas of my zone to help out some of the other companionships. So I havent been in my area at all, but it works out well because Elder Maxfield and Elder Granillo have been staying in the area and taking care of all the investigators.

Our ZL council went very well last week. It was probably the best of all that I have been to. We all went back to our areas with a stronger disposition to be %100 dedicated to the work and to help our elders be more obedient and dilligent.

I heard that Tony and Lori sold their house, thats good for them. I too will be sad to see them leave california but I know they will be happy in their new house. Anyways, I dont have much to say this week, but I am doing well. I havent spoken lately in church, but I am really enjoying Arbide, I hope to end my mission here. I honestly am tired everyday but I am trying to work as hard as I can and take advantage of the time I have left, because I know that once its gone, its gone and I cant come back. I love you all, cuidense mucho y permitan que el señor guia sus vidas hacia donde el quiere que lleguen, a la presencia celestial de nuestro padre.

Editors poor translation... (Take care, and allow the man to guide your life to where you want to be, in the celestial presence of our father.)

Love Elder Salazar!

Arbide. Elder Maxfield. Baptism's. 5455 blog hits.

2009-10-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Soaked after rainstorm (click to enlarge)

Hey Madre, y' padre,

Things are well here. Right now I am in the mission offices, we are going to have a ZL council at 4pm today so I am here hanging out with the mission secerataries, we went to the mall today and I bought a new tie from sears for 120 pesos, about 10 bucks. This last week went really well. We got the family of 4 baptized and another person named alejandro. The baptisms went very well, even though the water was cold. Our weather has been great, although it has been getting very very cold at night but other than that the weather has been very nice. For some reason this week we have been meeting alot of ex gangsters that have been living in LA, kinda scary. They have been treating us well though. Other than that, not much news from the week on my side of the border. Sorry to hear that uncle mike was feeling bad, I hope he takes care of himself. I too have learned a lesson about taking care of myself because of my foot and all. I realized getting yourself taken care of isnt a sign of weakness nor a waste of time but a necessity.

Good to hear that Justin has found a good doctor and his surgery went well. He'll be doing wheelies again in no time.

I dont have too much news or much to say this week, but I am doing well. My package still isnt here, but I imagine it will be soon. I love you all and I am enjoying my time here and am working hard. 2 ex missionaries that served in this mission and went home 5 months ago came to visit us in our ward here and all they can talk about is how much they want to come back to mission, so I am doing my best to work my hardest and enjoy every minute because I realize that once its gone, its gone. I am also trying to buy a few souvenirs with what little time I have to buy things.

Thanks for your love and support!

Love Elder Salazar

Street we live on (click to enlarge)

Arbide. Elder's Maxfield & Granilo. New pictures. 5380 log hits

2009-10-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

hey mom, and dad,

Enjoyed the email, I am still trying to figure out how to open the pictures to see them. I am on a Dell PC running MAC programs, weird combo. Sounds like Justin had a great bday, that's good. I cant believe he's 30, he is officially a "viejo" (old). Se pronuncia asi..."veeayho".

I was telling a few members the other day about the difference between the food here in the center "The bajio" and the food in the north "Comida norteña". In the north we eat almost all flour tortillas, here in the south everyone eats corn tortillas, I still like flour better though.

Church went well yesterday, but I must say. Its a lot of pressure to be working in president Cox´s ward. He sees just about everything we do, so we must always be on the ball. On the other hand, he and sis Cox are such great people, its like having an aunt and uncle in the ward. Our ward here is pretty big, we have about 140-150 assistance. Everyone goes to classes, the primary is full and things in this ward funcion how they are supposed to. There are 5 missionaries in this ward, including Elder Maxfield, Elder Granillo and my self, also the Office Secretarys, my old companion from Cardenas Elder Verdeja and Elder Sherman. Here in my area we are in a companionship of 3. Elder Maxfield is great, like I said he and I have known each other since day 1 of the MTC. He comes from Boise Idaho. He is the 3rd of 4 sons and has a younger sister. He wants to study dentistry when he gets home, his mom is also a dentist. Elder Maxfield has snow white teeth and a great smile, he uses colgate. My other companion is Elder Granillo. He is from southern Mexico from a state called "Hidalgo". He was born in the covenant so he comes from a very strong family. He is 23 years old, and after graduating from "benemerito" a church ran high school in the capitol of Mexico he decided to study business in college. He finished 3 of 4 years and then decided to go on his mission. He is a great guy, very mature, very patient. He has 21 months in the mission. Elder Granillo is not a zone leader but he is working with us till they can find him a companion. Today is pday and Elder Granillo wants to buy a new suit so we are going to go to a big mall here in Leon. I plan on looking for a few leather souvenirs to bring home. I am doing well on money, except I owe 30 dollars to the mission because my cell phone fell out of my pocket in a taxi =(.

Last week, we baptized a 9 year old girl named Ximena. Her parents are very good people, they aren't members yet but want to be baptized and even go to church every sunday. They cant get baptized because one of them hasn't been able to start a divorce process because the ex husband is in the US. They are talking to some lawyers to speed up the process. We have a beautiful family of 4 that we are probably going to baptize this week. They truly have let the restored gospel take effect in their lives. They absolutely love when we come over and teach them. The father has even stopped smoking. He smoked around 80 cigarettes a week, elder Maxfield and I made up a plan to help him stop smoking. He went from 12 a day, to 10, to 8, to 6 to 3, to 1 , to 0. Right now he hasnt smoked a cigarette since thursday. We are praying for them, and if all goes well they should be baptized on wednesday.

Time truly is going by quickly, today Elder Maxfield and I complete 19 months. We are excited but try not to talk much about our time ending or us going home. We mostly talk about the things we need to work on and get done before our time is over.I took some pictures last week of our house and stuff. I will send them to you now.

Thanks for all the love and support!

Love Elder Salazar

Ximena and some members at her baptism.
(click on image to enlarge)

Our house. Rent is 1500 pesos. $150. Elder Maxfield locking the door.

Red Jello made by ward members.
(click on image to enlarge)

Blue Jello made by ward members.
(click on image to enlarger)

Leon. New Comp; Elder Maxfield. General conference. 5280 blog hits

2009-10-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Bus Trip To Watch Conference

Hey mom, dad and family,

I am in my new area. It is in the City of Leon. Its really nice here. All the houses are new and the people are very nice. Our area is in the hills of Leon so we have a great view of the city, also we are about 10 minutes from the mission offices. I am serving in president's ward which is fun but a lot of pressure to be constantly baptizing. My new comp is Elder Maxfield and Elder Granillo. There is an odd number of missionaries here in the mission so Elder Granillo is staying with us until there is an even number and he can have a companion. The area of the Ward Arbide is really big. We are about 20 minutes from the church building. They have been renting a school bus for 400 pesos($40) to bring people that live far from the building, to come to church. It works out really well.

My house is pretty nice, its small but perfect for a companionship. Its new and I cleaned it last night so its even nicer! Ill take some pics and send them next week. Since we live so close to President Cox and the mission home we work alot with the Assistants and the secretarys here, which makes it fun because we help each other out.

Kind of a funny story about Sis.Cox's cat (named Celaya). I was at a concilio one time sitting next to one of my good friends in the mission, Elder Schow, Sis Cox was giving a short talk. While she was speaking, the cat walked into the room, and rubbed up against Elder Schows legs and then mine, trying to get attention. I payed no attention because I was trying to listen to Sis Cox´s talk. When she finished her comments, I look at mine and elder schows pant legs, which were covered with cat hair. I leaned over to Elder Schow and said "Schow, Im gonna kill that cat...", some how Sister Cox managed to hear the comment but she thought elder Schow said it, she stood up and said "Elder Schow, did you just say you were going to kill my cat!?", Elder Schow immediately replied "those words did not come out of my mouth!!". Everyone laughed because I had said I was going to kill the cat, but Elder Schow got the blame. It was pretty funny, Celaya the cat paid no attention. I do play with the cat when he comes around but he and Sasha are not the same type of personality.

The children here do celebrate halloween/Dia De La Muerte, (Day of the Dead) it is basically the same thing. Trick or treating is not too common because it's alittle dangerous, but a lot of kids do ask for candy. Most people have family over to celebrate.

Conference went really well, I only got to see the first sunday session and I really enjoyed the talks. I got to see part of Elder Holland's talk on the book of mormon, truly amazing! He always gives great talks. They showed us some phenomenal talks from him in the MTC, that have not been published yet. I also Enjoyed Elder Oaks talk on Gods love and his Laws, from the 2nd session on Saturday. We weren't able to see the other sessions if we didnt bring investigators to them. Elder Maxfield and I only managed to bring a family to the 1st session on Sunday.

Anyways, I love and miss you all.

Love Elder Salazar!

Leaving Celaya for Leon. 5185 blog hits

2009-09-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

First off good news...I found all my scriptures and my back pack! Turns out it was all in the mission office. What happened was during a concilio, an elder moved my stuff without telling me and I couldnt find it. Since it was late the night we got to the office home (about 130am) I couldnt remember if I had taken it out of the trunk or not so I assumed I had left my stuff in the taxi. I was VERY happy to find my stuff in the offices.

MORE NEWS... I am being changed. I am going to Leon, I will be in the area called Arbide which is actually Pres. and Sis Cox's ward. My new companion will be Elder Maxfield, I am VERY excited. Elder Maxfield is a GREAT elder, he and I were in the MTC together. Elder Maxfield and I will be in charge of one of the biggest and most successful zones in the mission LEON OESTE (West Leon). Elder Toutai will be staying here in Celaya Este, with a new zone leader. I am excited to be going to Leon.

Last Friday Elder Toutai and I were going to baptize a family of three. A mom a Dad and their son. As we were teaching them the commandments I asked the Dad twice if he and his wife were legally married by civil law, he replied both times that they were. The day of their baptism I had my District leader do the baptism interviews. It turns of that he and his wife wanted to get baptized so bad that he had lied to me about being married, he knew that if they werent legally married they couldnt get baptized. I was sad but I could see their sincerity and that they want to be members of the true church, they are willing to get married but the sad thing is that they are moving to another town called Cortazar on Wednesday and some other elders will take over the teaching process. Obviously we couldnt baptize the parents but we baptized the son, all went very well.

I passed that reference on to the Elders in Salamanca! I hope they can find him and teach him the gospel. Time will tell. He lives in my old area in salamanca, there are members that live on that street.

Sorry to hear about Justins knee! That must hurt, alot of atheletes tear that ligament and its ALLLL over. Justin is strong and I know he will come back stronger than ever. When Elder Toutai was a senior in high school he broke both his ankles in a football game, he says his ankles are stronger than ever now.

Anyways, I am excited to be leaving Celaya. These have been some difficult months here but I can honestly say I worked my hardest. So I leave here with no regrets. I know Elder Toutai will be able to pick up the zone and make it into the biggest baptizing zone.

This is a picture of my MTC companions: L-R Elders Callen, Maxfield (my new companion) Ditto & me.

Thanks for all the love and support, I love you all!
Elder Salazar

Celaya. Elder Toutai. Baptism's. Sick. 5085 blog hits.

2009-09-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

I am going to be a little short today because right now I am in the mission offices in Leon for a ZL council. This last week went well, we saw some miracles here in Celaya, a lot of elders and sisters weren’t expecting to baptize and at the last minute a lot of baptisms went through.

Elder Toutai and I got sick this past week. We got some kind of food poisoning, I feel fine now but Elder Toutai still feels sick. I spent kind of a lot of money this week. With us being sick I had to buy Elder Toutai and myself a few things. He feels bad for having to depend on me, but I don’t feel bad giving him a hand, because I went through the same thing so I can’t complain.

Please tell Mark Johnson thanks for the letter and the 10$. He bought Elder Toutai and me lunch! My foot feels fine, I feel good. I feel old though, everyone I once knew in the mission has gone home and everyone else is new here in the mission. Elder Kay my old companion went home Monday =/. Well, I have to run.

Let everyone know everything is well and I love you all! Say hello to Nate, Jen, Justin and Vanessa, Ricky and Sara!

Love Elder Salazar

Celaya. Elder Toutai. Thunder and lightning storm. Convert planning on a mission. 4985 blog hits

2009-09-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

Things are well here. We have been having some heavy rain, and thunder and lightning storms here lately, but usually they are after 8pm, except Sunday morning it rained really hard which made it a little more difficult getting investigators to church, but all went well. We are keeping very, very busy here in Celaya . Anyways, we are working super hard, but seeing very few results so far. Either way we are happy to be serving in Leon , Mexico. Tomorrow is the Mexican Independence day.

Mom, Thank you for putting more money in my account. Lately I have been spending a lot of money. A lot of times we have lunch appointments with members and they either forget or cancel on us, so we have to buy lunch. Since Elder Toutai’s ATM card got cancelled he doesn’t have any money, so I don’t hesitate in buying dinner or something for us to eat. Erica sent me a picture of Fantastic Burger and you’re reminder of Casa Brito, makes me hungry!! I love the food here but to be honest it’s not the same as back home. Here in this part of Mexico the people rarely eat flower tortillas, it’s almost always corn tortillas. Here in the "Bajio" they eat a lot of soups and a type of cactus called "Nopal". But I still love it because it is so authentic. Elder Toutai is doing very well, he is definitely one of my favorite companions because he always has a good attitude, he’s fearless, and he scares all the gangster cholos. He speaks Spanish pretty well. Also a lot of times people think he is from Brazil because of his accent and he is brown like me. He played a lot of football back home, and before the mission he went to LDS Business College, so he plans on going back to get his associates degree, I believe he has one year left. About that haircut picture I sent you... a month ago when Elder Christofferson was about to come here to Leon, Elder Toutai let me use his hair clippers, I was looking for a #6. What I grabbed was a 6mm which is actually a #2 and started cutting my hair. As soon as I made my first cut I knew I had made a very big mistake. There was no way to fix it by combing it or cutting it with another number so we decided the best thing to do was just to buzz it all off. President did get on me when he saw me, but a lot people said my hair looked good buzzed. =D.

Today I received an email from one of my converts back in Salamanca and he broke the news to me that he’s preparing to go on a mission. He’s 17 and is about to graduate from high school. Once he graduates he will have to wait only a few months more and he will be able to enter the temple and leave on a mission. I am very excited!

Time is slowly coming to an end for me, on Saturday I reached my 18 month mark with 6 to go. =/.... I burned a tie to celebrate.

That’s about all I have for you and dad, thanks for everything, I love and miss you.

Love Elder Salazar

Celaya, bad spacebar. 4870 blog hits

2009-09-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

HeyDad,

Myspacebarisntworkingbecausethisinternetcafeweareinisreallycrummy.Iamgoingtobeshortbecauseweareoutoftime.Butmyfootisdoingwell,ithurtsnowandthenbutmykneehasntbeenhurtingatall.Lastnightwebaptisedtwopeopleandthebaptismwentreallywell.Weareworkingreallyhardhereinthezone,thisisoneofthelowestbaptizingzonesinthemissionandElderToutaiandIaretryingtopickitupandmakeitabaptizingzone.IamsadtohearthatTonyandLoriaremovingbutIamexcited,theyseemtohavefoundsomewherethatmakesthemhappyandthatisgood.Ialsodontwanttoseethemgo(.SorryIdonthavemuchtosaythisweek,alsoIamalittlefrustratedwiththiscomputer.SoInsteadofwritingsomuch,Iwillsendyouapictureofourwashingmachine.
Iloveyouall,andhopeforthebest!
LoveElderSalazar

Celaya. Reached goal, 417 baptisms for August. 4770 blog hits

2009-08-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hey mom, dad and family!

Congrat-ulations to Scott Sornbutnark, I am glad he's found someone that he can be happy with.

Things are going very well here in the mission. We are back to normal pdays and even better, we reached our goal of 400!!! We actually baptized 417. Elder Toutai and myself have been traveling a ton trying to seal deals on all of our remaining baptisms and trying to fill our goal of 30 in the zone. We worked really hard and honestly did all we could but we only reached 28 baptisms for the zone and our goal was 30. We are going to figure out what we can do better for this month and improve. Not much news here other than that.

As you know there are 4 of us living in one house. We decided to open another area here in Celaya and the assistants told us to send Elder Gutierrez and Elder Richards to open it. So they will be moving out and Elder Toutai and I will be all alone in our two story house. The house will be a little cleaner, a little quieter and the bathroom will be more accessable.

Some good news, Elder Maxfield and his companion broke the baptism record for a companion ship in one month by baptising 23 people in one month! The old record was 22 held by Elder Holt and his comp Elder Lopez. Congrats!!!

Here's a picture of Elder Holt my ex Comp, Elder Ditto my MTC comp, and Elder Maxfield from the MTC. We are all at concilio here.

Love you and miss you all.

Elder Salazar!

Celaya. Zone Leader Conference. 4695 blog hits

2009-08-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

I am in Leon, Guanajuato for a zone leader council. I don't have anytime to write, but I plan on writing you most likely later today or tomorrow because Elder Toutai also has to write. I am doing well, spending lots of $$$ because Elder Toutai's ATM card has also been cancelled. I sent a picture of Elder Lopez, who completed his mission, and went home last week.

All is well,

Love ya!

Trip to Leon to hear Elder D. Todd Christopherson speak. 4 Elders, 1 bathroom. 4630 blog hits.

2009-08-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

Things are going ok, this last week has been very hectic. Life as a zone leader is hard. I not only have to worry about myself and my area, but the other Elders and Sister missionaries and their areas. I am trying to balance my zone while making sure I have success in my own area. All the while keeping them happy and enthusiastic. I am very tired, but happy.

Elder Christofferson was here in Leon yesterday with Elder Daniel K. Johnson of the 70, (the New Mexico area president). They both spoke to us and it was great. Elder Christofferson served his mission in Argentina, so he speaks Spanish really, really well and Elder Johnson was born in the American colonies of Chiuahua Mexico. He gave a few missionaries the opportunity to ask him questions. I stood up and asked a question. I told him that the scriptures tell us we need to be one or have unity, I then asked; In the quorum of the 12 how do you all maintain unity if there are 12 of you and you all have to come to a decision? He explained that each member of the 12 has their strengths, their opinions and they all come from various proffesional backgrounds. He shared a funny experience he had with President Eyring, where Elder Christofferson shared an Idea he had (which he thought was a great Idea) and President Eyring completely disagreed and completely shot it down. But he responded that when we share our ideas and opinions in love and respect, and focus on what really is the will of the lord in any situation, we will all come to an agreement and be one on a decision.

As for Celaya, I am really struggling in my area to find investigators. This truly is one of the harder areas I have worked in and I am still trying to figure out how I can have success.

Elder Toutai is doing well. He really isn’t that tall but he is a giant. He is a really strong guy. We have a lot of fun because he is really dedicated and truly depends on the lord, he honestly puts his trust in the lord and not himself. We are still living 4 in a house. It’s really fun, sometimes it’s crazy, and sometimes we live like little pigs =/ but we have fun. We only have one bathroom which is hard, lol. But we all manage. We all get along well. It’s funny because there are 3 Californians in one house, myself, Elder Toutai from Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana and Elder Richards from San Diego. So we have a lot in common. I am happy and enthusiastic about the work, it’s very hard and tiring but it brings a lot of satisfaction.

I forgot to tell you, my first companion Elder Velez (in picture) ended his mission today. he will be in his home today at about 1pm, he will be missed. Also my other companion Elder Lopez G. went home on Saturday, he also will be missed. Also, the other day I was going to use Elder Toutai´s hair clippers, I grabbed what I though was a number 6 but it was actually a number 2. So my hair is really short... oops! Lol.

Elder Christofferson said that every time we write our families we should always share at least a small part of our testimonies....

Yo se que dios vive, el no ha dejado de hablar con nosotros. El no puede ni dejara de hablar con nosotros porque el nos ama. Sigue llamando Profetas para guiar su iglesia. Desde Adan a Thomas Monson dios nos esta guiando. Jesucristo es el Salvador de toda humanidad, ha efectuado un sacrificio expiatorio perfecto, lo cual nos permite ser limpios de nuestros pecados y vovler a la presencia del padre!

(Editors note: Below is my poor Spanish to English translation. Rick.)
“I know that God lives, he has not stopped speaking with us. He cannot nor would he stop speaking with us, because he loves us. He continues calling Prophets to guide his church. I accept Thomas Monson as a prophet of God. Jesus Christ is the savior of all humanity. His sacrifice allows us to be washed of our sins and to return to the presence of our father!”

With much love!

Elder Salazar

Celaya, Elder Holt transfered. New companion; Elder Toutai. Now Senior Zone Leader. 4530 Blog hits

2009-08-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad!

Things here are going ok here. Elder Holt and I have been working like dogs!! So we are really tired. We got a call from President last night and Elder Holt got transferred. It turns out that Elder Holt is leaving this morning. I will be getting a new companion named Elder Toutai from Fontana California. His name is pronounced “TOE-TIE", he’s a big Samoan kid. Since he is from Fontana California we will have a lot in common.

Pres decided to make a few quick changes because we are going for 400 baptisms’s this month and he didn’t want to make a lot of changes all at one time because baptisms would drop due to all the changes.

I am sad to see Elder Holt go because we worked really well together but I am very excited to be with a Samoan elder! Elder Holt was a really fun companion, even though we didn’t have and aren’t having much success we had a lot fun being together. Elder Holt is headed to Aguascalientes and will be with one of my old companions from San Luis Potosi named Elder Kay. I will now be Senior Zone leader.

Anyways, we are working really hard. In the mission right now we have around 200 baptisms so we only need 200 more.

It has been pretty hot here lately, I have been trying to drink a lot of water throughout the day and it helps a lot. We get around by walking, or taking buses and taxis. We use a lot of taxis which cost 25-35 pesos ($2.50 - $3.50) because a lot times we have to travel from one side of the city to another to do baptism interviews.

Congratulations to Jarom Olsen and Colin Price who are starting the Journey. Jarom will be very close to me when he gets here to Mexico. The Guadalajara South Mission borders with the Mexico, Leon mission. =D. Actually the Mexico Leon mission used to include all of the area that is now the Guadalajara South, but to make it easier for the mission president they cut it off of this mission and named it Guadalajara South. Right now here in the mission we are all very enthusiastic because since May till now The Mexico Leon mission has gone from being in last place in baptisms to number 1!! So we are very enthusiastic!

I am very, very excited for Nate and Jen, that is awesome! I am even more excited that the baby is due in April and I will be able to be there for everything.

I am a little out of time but my foot is well, my spirits are up and we are working hard. THANK YOU for ALL the love and support.

Gotta run! Love ya!

Elder Salazar

P.S. Put this on the blog...Congratulations Jen and Nate!!!! I’m guessing a girl!

Celaya. New Mission goal 400 baptism's for the month of August. 4455 blog hits.

2009-08-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hey dad!

This has to have been one of your most eventful emails yet! That’s awesome Nathan and Jen are going to be having their first child. I bet mom can’t sleep at night, thinking about it. Let’s hope it’s a girl. I watched the video on YouTube and that was a typical mom expression, lol. In the mission we often talk about when we opened our mission call and how we and our families reacted and I often tell people how mom and Grammy just about jumped out of their socks when I read my call.

Sounds like Vegas was fun. That picture of Nathan with the SAW (squad automatic weapon) looks awesome! What caliber is it?

Things here in Celaya are going ok. Actually Elder Holt and I are now officially companions. He and I were both struggling to have success in our areas so we asked president if we could rearrange the zone a little bit and be companions and he gave us the ok. So Elder Richards has a new companion and Elder Holt and I are comps. Things are going ok. We are working really hard. This month the mission is going for 400 baptisms and we are sacrificing our Mondays again.

If I have a few minutes of spare time these next couple of weeks I’ll try to send out a few cards or at least an email or two to the family and Gma, gpa and the brothers.

I DID get my bank card and it works great, I bought 2 new pairs of shoes, a pair of dress shoes for church and some really comfortable proselyte shoes!

I have to be a little short because I am out of time and I received a lot more emails than usual and would like to respond to them all.

Thanks for everything.

Love and miss you!

Elder Salazar

310 Baptism's for July, Elder D. Todd Christopherson to visit the mission. 4380 blog hits.

2009-07-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom & dad,

Not too much happened this week. I DID get my card (the temporary) but here's the thing, it was already expired since june 13th! Lol. dont worry, today elder Holt and I have a zone leader council meeting in Leon and I have already verified that my new card has arrived in the mission offices, so today I will be going to get it.

Like I said, not too much this week but I will give you a "David Letterman" style run down....

------ We baptized 310 people this month. Our goal once again was 300 and we made it again! This mission is truly changing and its amazing.

----- Two of my old companions are going home the 17th of august, Elder Velez my first companion/trainer and Elder Lopez.G who I was with in San Luis. They will be missed.

------ President Cox announced that our mission has been selected BY Elder D. Todd Christofferson to be visited in the month of august, most likely the 18th or 19th. Elder Christofferson and Elder Johnson of the area Mexico presidency will be visiting us and talking to us! Thats 2 Apostles in less than 6 months, we are all very excited.

------ No baptisms this week =(, and I am still struggling to find investigators.

------ My foot has been feeling well. Except on saturday it rained really hard here and my comp and I had to run home to take all our clothes down from clothesline outside, and my foot has been sore these last couple days. Despite some of the dificulties of the work.

I still find myself enjoying every day of the mission more and more also the opportunity to serve my zone, its alot of pressure but at the same time I feel alot more satisfaction from helping the other Elders/Sister missionaries in my zone.

Thats all I have for this week,

Thanks for ALL the love and support!

Celaya, San Miguel De Allende, ATM card. 4320 blog hits

2009-07-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom y’ dad,

Things are ok here. My foot hasn’t been bothering me at all which has been a major blessing and honestly a miracle. Also, my bank card is here. We have interviews with President Cox on Wednesday so I am sure he will bring it to me.

Sounds like things are going well back home. Things are going ok here. We had a baptism fall through this week, which hurt, but we will help her get baptized this week. We have been having a few little problems here in the zone with disobedience so it’s been hard for Elder Holt and I to be focused but we are doing our best. Elder Holt and his companion had two baptisms which went very well. Although after the baptisms one of the water pipes broke in the ceiling which sent water gushing through the ceiling like a waterfall! I’ll send a picture of it. Other than that, not too much going on. We are working really hard here and looking for success. Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Salazar

Ps. Feliz cumpleaños Jen!

1. Besides candy, what else goes on in Celaya?
------Other than candy, Celaya isn’t known for much more than that.

2. Is Celaya a modern city? Do they have fast food and big stores?
------Its pretty modern, not as modern as San Luis but its ok. They have McDonalds, Costco =D, Wal-Mart etc, Movies, etc. etc.

3. Are there any craftsmen hand making items there?
------I am always on the lookout but I haven’t found any authentic handmade items. The other day I saw a guy selling some guitars but he was far away so I couldn’t check them out. Elder Holt is teaching a guy that makes rings, so we are all thinking about getting mission rings made for cheap.

4. Tell us something...
------This week I had to go to a town about an hour away from Celaya called San Miguel De Allende in order to do some baptism interviews. It’s a very big tourist town FILLED with American people and rich Mexican citizens. It is very beautiful but the people are very snobby. There are a ton of Americans walking around speaking English, it was very weird being there. We had fun. The city is very beautiful and colonial. If you ever come to Guanajuato we will definitely take a trip to San Miguel De Allende.

I will include a picture of a Catholic temple in San Miguel De Allende that we all think looks like the San Diego Temple!

No ATM card yet, freight trains in the middle of the night. 4245 blog hits

2009-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a sticker everyone puts on their door that says: "This home is catholic, forgive us brethren. We can’t listen to Jehovah Witness, Mormons or missionaries from other congregations that aren’t Catholic. Let god be your companion, we live the faith that our fathers left us."

Hey Mom and pops,

Things here are going ok. My comp and I are working like crazy because we don’t have too many investigators right now. Celaya is ok, it’s not a very beautiful/nice place to live but to say the least it is interesting. There is a big freight train depot in the middle of Celaya, and when the freight trains pass through my area the people find a way to stop it, open the freight cars and basically loot or rob all they can as fast as they can. It’s absolutely unreal seeing people grabbing things and running.

Elder Richards is doing well. He has about 3 1/2 weeks here in Mexico. We should have 1 baptism at the end of this week. Right now we are working on getting 2 people married, but as of right now they don’t seem too excited about getting married and baptized, we will see what happens.

I am having fun being a ZL, although it is a lot of stress. If my zone does well and baptizes a lot, Elder Holt and I receive A LOT of the credit but at the same time if we don’t do well and don’t baptize, we receive ALL the blame! So it’s a lot of pressure. But I enjoy being involved with my companions and helping them out.
*

That’s really awesome to hear that someone (Mike and Candy Young) in the ward is from Penjamo, Guanajuato. I will definitely pass that reference on to the corresponding elders. Penjamo is a little town that was actually part of my first area in Irapuato.

**Thanks to Sue Clark for sending me the referral information!!

Anyways, things are ok here except for the fact I STILL don’t have my ATM card. I called my old comp Elder Whittle last night and he said that it is still not there. So please, please, please, pay to have it overnighted or something because its hard not having money and I need shoes, I feel bad for constantly borrowing from my comps (even though they understand my situation). This time send it to the mission offices please. As for a package, I am doing well, whatever you decide to send me will be fine. I do need Tylenol but I can probably buy that here for even cheaper.

Love ya!

I will now answer your questions!

1. Tell us about Celaya?

------It is known for being a big candy producing city. Especially this type of candy called Cajeta. It’s basically caramel but it’s really good. Celaya is also known for its high crime rate. Lots of poor people and lots of drugs here. Since I have been here I have seen about 5 police raids with the Federal Police here. Interesting to watch but scary to know that I probably knock the doors of drug dealers everyday.

2. How is your new ward, big or small?

------It’s a good size ward, we normally average 100,110 in assistance, which is average to above average here. There are a lot of Priesthood holders in the ward, which is a good thing. Our building is the stake center so it’s bigger than most buildings. When I lived with my zone leader Elder Dalton in San Luis he was actually in the exact same ward I am in now before coming to SLP. So he showed me pictures of a lot of his converts and members he was friends with. So it was funny going to church because I have already seen and heard of some of the members there.

3. Tell us about your new Bishop?

------I actually don’t know him too well yet, but he seems nice. He’s older than most of the bishops I have had. He’s probably 45-50. But he served a mission and everything. I heard he’s really good

4. How is your new apartment, size, cost, location?

------We live in a two story house because there are 4 of us in one house. It is 2 bedroom 1 bathroom (rough!) it is pretty nice. Rent is about 2000 pesos ($200) a month. It’s an ok house. We live in a pretty nice neighborhood. Which is nice because we don’t have to worry about people breaking in. The only bad thing is that we live about 10 houses from the freight train depot. So we hear trains all night.

5. Does the ward help in the missionary work with splits, referrals?

------They do. When we push them for referrals they usually give us the names of their friends, etc. As for splits. I’m not too sure because I still don’t know the members too well yet, but they all seem nice enough to help us out.

New zone (Celaya) New companion. 4150 blog hits

2009-07-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and dad,

Where to start??? First off, the Zone Leader Council went really well. We stayed the night in Leon. It turns out Elder Maxfield, Elder Callen, Elder Ditto and I are ALL getting moved up as Zone leaders so we had a lot of fun all being together again and now as ZLs. The ZL council lasted Monday and Tuesday till about 4pm. Elder Whittle stayed in Salamanca with another companionship while I was in Leon.

President decided to change me so I have left Salamanca and the Irapuato zone and have traveled about 45 minutes to my new zone which is called Celaya. My zone leader companion is Elder Holt from Utah. He has about a month less than I do in the mission. I actually knew him in the MTC. BUT, I am actually not with Elder Holt. Due to the number of new missionaries who have gotten to the mission, all the ZLs have been training newbies. So right now I am with Elder Richards from San Diego, California. Elder Richard’s ex- companion/trainer is Elder Velez my first companion! So I am just taking over as his comp. We are living 4 Americans in one house so this should be fun!

My foot is doing well. I have had very little pain this last week so that has been nice. When my foot doesn’t hurt my knee doesn’t hurt so that’s a good thing. I usually just take regular Ibuprofen because that’s what the doctor recommended.

Things are going well here, I still haven’t received my ATM card. But I’m guessing it should be here within this week. Elder Whittle will bring it to me when we have the zone conference or he will give it to President Cox to give it to me.

Love ya!

1. What are your duties as a zone leader?
------Make sure my zone is being obedient and most importantly...baptizing! Also I have to prepare trainings and do divisions with the companionships that are struggling etc etc.

2. Of all your different companions, who has been your favorite?
------ As for my favorite companion, I can’t really think of one because they have all been so fun. But the funnest time and most memorable of my mission was the time I spent in San Luis Potosi with Elder Lopez and Elder Kay. Those days were golden.

3. Did you and your companion do anything to celebrate the 4th?
------No not really. We actually forgot, which was funny. We worked all day Saturday, and then while we were walking home I remembered it was the 4th, so then we began talking about the blessings of living in the USA.

Now a zone leader. Consulted the mission doctor about injured foot. 4100 hits

2009-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hey parents,

Things are getting back to normal. My foot and knee hurt, but I am now taking medication. I am glad Pres and Sis Cox called to talk directly to you about the situation. I had an interview with president on Wednesday and he was really worried about everything, needless to say I was too. I know that staying here is the right decision. The doctor called me on monday and we had a good talk. He explained to me that I cant do any more damage to my foot or knee than I have already done. He gave me some work outs for my knee and talked to me about medication. I am talking medication but only on the days when my foot hurts a little more than usual or is unusually sore.

All the foot and knee pain drama is being made up for with some exciting news, President is making me a zone leader (I dont get set apart or get a blessing but I am going to ask him for one). Actually today I am going to Leon for a zone leader council. I will meet with president and the other zone leaders, and Sis. Cox will make us lunch. We will be staying the night in the mission home. It should be alot of fun and really inspiring.

We actually did get in touch with that woman and her 3 kids, that we were going to baptize. It turns out they really arent ready and just dont want to get baptized, we tried to resolve her doubts and concerns but she wont give in. Maybe somewhere down the road she will get baptized.

Things here are well in Salamanca, I am preparing to leave because I will most definitely be moved to a new area to start as a zone leader.

The weather has been ok, its very sunny and warm in the day but at night we have rain/lightning and thunder storms all through the night. The Pemex refinery still smells really bad.

My ATM card still hasnt gotten here but I think it should arrive sometime this week. Things usually take 3 weeks to get here. I am still working hard and trying to make best of what time I have left. Hope all is well!

1. How is Elder Whittle doing? Is his Spanish improving? How much time does Elder Whittle have in the mission?
------Elder Whittle has half a year. His spanish is getting better, he just needs practice and to try to talk as the people talk

2. Of all the people you have taught, and/or baptized who is the most memorable and why?
------I think it would be JoseLuis from when I was in Irapuato. The day we found him things were going really bad. I prayed that god would give us a hand, and he gave us JoseLuis. He found US! and was baptized in 2 weeks.

3. Do you or your companions get asked to speak in sacrament meeting very often?
------Yes! Actually yesterday I spoke on Unselfish Service and Elder Whittle spoke on Faith. We were told that both talks went very well.

4. Tell us something Elder Bednar said, that we can apply to our lives.
------Try to give as many references as you can to the missionaries. Elder Bednar said "You and I (as members) are full time searchers, looking for people. Missionaries are full time teachers."

Entire mission traveled to Leon. Elder David A. Bednar Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to the entire mission. 4020 blog hits

2009-06-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hey dad/family,

Hola familia, this week was absolutely awesome. We had the chance to meet and hear Elder Bednar. I will give a breakdown...
On Thursday night Elder Whittle and I traveled to Irapuato from Salamanca and stayed with the zone leaders. On Friday morning we got up, showered and headed to the bus depot from where we traveled to Leon with the entire Irapuato and Celaya zones, Leon is a little over an hour away Irapuato. The entire mission met in the stake center in Leon. We all hung out, talked, ate a ham and cheese sandwich lunch and then we headed into the building to wait for Elder Bednar.

Elder Bednar's talk was amazing. He actually didn’t really prepare a talk, he told us this wasn’t a fireside, or a meeting, this was a "revelatory experience." He would ask us questions and we would respond and he would go into a little more detail. He even gave us time to ask him questions. I never asked a question but I did respond to one of his, he asked us “What are you learning and observing from this pattern and method of learning?" I responded that I noticed that instead of him preparing and speaking to us for 3 hours, we (Elder Bednar and the mission) were sharing comments, ideas and participating, thus we are creating an environment where the spirit can testify to us. As missionaries sometimes we fall into the rut, where we show up, and "teach" someone, something about the church, when really, we should be trying to create an environment where the investigator can participate and feel the spirit testify of the truth of the things we share with them. Elder Bednar responded that that was a great observation and "well expressed". His remarks were absolutely amazing. Elder Whittle and I have been talking about nothing else for 3 days. At the end he gave us the opportunity to come up and shake his hand.

We were in Leon from 10:30 to 6:30 and we ended up getting home at about 8pm, then my district and I went out for tacos =). As for Elder Roberts, of course I saw him, he’s impossible to miss. I never got a chance to talk to him, but I did talk to his companion. Right now the mission is receiving a lot of new people, and many of them are from California. I met an elder named Elder Su'a, from the city of Torrance and a Samoan elder named Elder Toutai from Fontana. Right now Californians total 14 in the mission including Pres y' Sis Cox.

Things are going well, Elder Whittle and I are looking for more baptisms and working hard. I will definitely take pictures next week and send them.

Con amor hacia todos!

Elder Salazar

I will now answer your questions...

1. What was it like to have the entire mission gather together at one time, and hear Elder Bednar talk?

------It was awesome, we all felt the spirit really strong.

2. There are 150 elders in the Mexico, Leon Mission, where did you all meet?
------A lot of elders just went home at the end of the last change, so I believe we are a little less than 150, but we all met in the stake center in Leon.

3. What do you do to stay healthy and fit? Do you work out? Do you still use your push up helper?

------ I do every now and then, usually in the morning to wake myself up. I am really glad to have them, they help a lot. To stay healthy and fit, not really anything, I’m tired basically everyday, usually too tired to workout. Basically to stay healthy, we don’t drink the water. As for working out, some elders used to get up extra early and go to the gym, but the Missionary Dept of the church has banned us from going to the gym. All exercise must be done in the house. I usually stretch to get myself to wake up.

4. What’s the weather like right now?
------This last week has been really weird, the days are sunny and warm but almost everyday after 6pm it gets really dark, and really heavy rain clouds move in, and we get thunder and lightning and really heavy rain. If we don’t plan things right we get SOAKED. But only after 6pm, really weird...

5. Tell us about your apartment in Salamanca? (cost, size, amenities, neighborhood, landlord)
------Our apartment here is actually pretty cool. We live in downtown Salamanca so there are always cars passing by and people outside. Our rent is 1500 pesos ($150). It’s a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom with a patio. It’s not very big but it’s perfect for missionaries. We have a stove, refrigerator and Elder Whittle has a really nice CD player we listen to. This is probably the most comfortable house I have lived in. Our landlord only comes by about once a month to collect rent. Last time he came by he couldn’t believe I was American, it was pretty funny.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/background-information/leader-biographies/elder-david-a-bednar

Huge cockroach's, 3 baptism's, shout out to GG 6th Ward, family and friends, 3960 hits

2009-06-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hey mom, and dad,

I am writing a little earlier than usual because Pres. Cox took away our p-day due to the fact that basically almost all of our time on Friday will be spent traveling to hear Elder Bednar, and then traveling home. So today we only have time to write our families and wash clothes, but I also need a haircut so we are trying to go fast so that we can get to work ASAP.

This week went ok. Elder Whittle and I have been working really hard. There is this newlywed couple we have been teaching but the thing is they don’t get home till 1030pm from work and that is the only time we can find them. So Elder Whittle and I have been getting very little sleep. We were always falling asleep in the lessons, but I guess that’s a part of the job. The best part is that this newlywed couple were both baptized on Saturday. We ended up not baptizing 7, but we did baptize 3. The baptisms went well. We had a family of four that were ready, a single mother and her 3 kids. But on Saturday we went to go talk to her at her house and she had left, she seems to be avoiding us and we cant get a hold of her, we were pretty let down because they were ready and everything.

On Wednesday a member took us out to eat some tacos/quesadillas at a local taco place on the street. We all decided to buy quesadillas and while we were all talking and eating I felt (at first I thought it was my cell phone vibrating) something crawling up my leg. As I scooted my chair back so I could stand up to "answer the cell phone" I looked at my pant pocket and it was a cockroach! But this was no ordinary cockroach!! This thing was without a doubt the biggest cockroach I have ever seen in my WHOLE entire life!! So at the speed of light I jumped up and started smacking my pant leg trying to get this thing off me!! I finally smacked it off into the street. I don’t think there was a single head in the entire place that wasn’t looking at me. Needless to say, I was embarrassed. I also lost my appetite. My companion and the member thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. There is a common saying here in Salamanca that the cockroaches here are 5x the normal size due to Pemex polluting Salamanca. This type of big brown cockroach that can even fly.

Other than cockroaches and baptisms, nothing too exciting. I am enjoying being a district leader. I really have the chance to help my peers in the mission. It’s a lot more responsibility because a lot more is expected out of me but I think that’s a good thing.

Something happened to me this week that has really strengthened my testimony of the love of god. This last week I got a phone call from a mother in Irapuato. It turns out that at about this time last year I was with my 2nd companion Elder Raya. Elder Raya and I didn’t get along too well, I was a greenie and he was just completing a year. I prayed a lot that transfer, asking the lord to not let us fail, that despite all the problems we were having we could still have success. In that Transfer elder Raya and I only baptized one person. I can’t say we had complete failure that change because we did baptize one child of god, but I came out of that transfer, sad with the feeling of a month and a half wasted. Anyways, I get to Salamanca and a lady calls me from Irapuato, she tells me her name is Paulina and that she wants to thank me because a year ago I knocked her door, she let us in and we taught her the message of the restoration of the gospel. I ended up getting transferred and Elder Raya only went back to teach her one time with his new companion. She never forgot our names or the fact that we had visited her. She prayed that we would come back and a little over four months later, a new set of Elders knocked her door, taught her, and she, her husband and 4 kids ended up getting baptized. I can’t describe how I felt after hanging up, it was an instant testimony to me that the lord does bless us when we pray, always have a good attitude and never give up. I plan on going to visit her and her family the next P-day I have some free time.

I am really excited to hear that Bryce is on his way off to the MTC. This will be the greatest adventure of his life. Colorado will be awesome. I am happy to be here in the Mexico, Leon mission, my time is slowly ticking down and I am trying to do all I can to help everyone I meet here. I know that God lives, he watches us every single day. Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, he truly has "descended below ALL things". Joseph Smith is a prophet of god, he saw god, he saw Jesus Christ, he heard their voices, and he restored the gospel and the priesthood of god in their purest forms. The book of Mormon is another witness of the savior Jesus Christ; it has been preserved and saved for these latter days, a divine purpose, to prove to the world that Jesus is the Christ. I know that it is evidence of the truth of this great church. There is absolutely no way a farm boy of 21 years old could have written that book. Thomas Monson is called of god; he is our prophet, seer and revelator. I am very grateful to be here, to know and to share these things with the people of Mexico.

I love and thank you all. Thank you to my family, Ricky, Justin, Nathan, their wives/gf's, The Crespos, the Traders, the Bowring’s, Bro. Benagas, the Clarks, and all of the GG 6th ward for all the love and support, I feel the power of the prayers you give in my behalf.

Love Elder Salazar!

I will now answer your questions...

1. What makes Salamanca so beautiful?
------It has some areas that are really old and colonial, and then there are the new houses which are really nice. It’s the best of both worlds.

2. Is your ward a strong ward? How many members are there?
------My ward is pretty strong, a lot of the members have really strong testimonies. There are over 150 members but only about 75 active members every Sunday. A little smaller than normal.

3. Tell us about the ward leaders, and the young men/women programs.
------I still haven’t seen them do too much. I know the YW, just got home from their week long campout, it looks like it went well, and they put up a bunch of pics in the foyer. The YM, usually play soccer on Friday, other than that I haven’t seen too much from them.

4. What food and shopping places are in Salamanca?
------The only big food place well known I have seen here is KFC. There is no Carls Jr. =( or B-King. There is a really big mercado here, a big swap meet, where they sell a lot of stuff. There are a TON of shoe stores here.

5. What do you like best about Salamanca?
------Probably because the city changes a lot, we never get bored or tired of seeing the same things because like I said, there are nice new houses, and there are really old colonial houses. I guess it would be that I like the variety of Salamanca, just not the smell =/. It smells really, really bad here.

Salamanca, 1 baptism, finally recieved care packages, 3900 hits

2009-06-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey dad,

This email is going to be short due to our lack of time. I will give a quick run down of the week.
Saturday we baptized a 16 year old girl named Ivonne. The baptism went well. If all goes well this weekend we may have 7 baptisms.

* My foot is slowly getting better, the pain is less and less.
* The District/Zone leader conference in Leon was awesome, very spiritual. Sis.Cox made us lasagna. I haven’t had lasagna in over a year.
*I got my packages, THANK YOU TRADER FAMILY!! and my family also. Most definitely some of the best packages I have received yet. The pants fit and everything.
*Elder Bednar will be here the 19th, the whole mission will be traveling to Leon to see, meet and hear him speak to us. Sadly, he will not be interviewing us all as we had thought. =(
*Salamanca is a great place, there is a huge refinery here called PEMEX, basically all of Salamanca is employed there.
*Due to the poor health regulations mexico puts on pemex, the entire city smells very badly due to the excess waste of pemex.
*Even though Salamanca smells bad it is a lot more beautiful than Irapuato, we are about 40 minutes from the city of irapuato.

Love ya!

El Elder Salazar

I will now answer your questions...

1. Tell us about Salamanca. Is it a big or small town, what do they do for work there? How does it compare to the other cities you've been in?
------It’s a relatively small town, but is constantly growing. There are a ton of people living here. Most people here work in the pemex refinery, almost all the members atleast.

2. Tell us about Elder Whittle (parents, family etc? What's is he like, what does he like to do for fun back home?
------Elder Whittle is a really good guy. He just reached his one year mark in the mission. He is obedient, has a desire to work hard and do his best. He is a big kid that’s for sure. He’s about 6 foot 4, 220 pounds. You will see him in the pic. The top of my head reaches to his shoulders. He wears a size 14 shoe!! He’s a football player. His whole family are members, his mom and dad have been on missions. His grandparents have been on more than 5 missions themselves.

3. How is your new ward, is it a big ward, are the members strong? What is the Bishop like?
------My new ward is ok. Our meeting block just changed time, from 12 to 830am. The time change has affected a lot of members. Some have a hard time getting up earlier. The bishop is a good guy, this is his 2nd time being bishop, he has a son in the Monterrey East mission right now.

4. Are there artisans or people hand making goods in your area?
------That I have seen, not really. But I am always looking. In the state of Guanajuato the big trade here is shoes, this state is FILLED with shoes. Because Leon is the leather capital of the country.

5. How many missionaries are in your area now? Do you or the zone leaders do the pre-baptism interviews?
------In my district we are 6. 4 here in Salamanca, 2 in a small town another 30 minutes away called Valle De Santiago. I do all the baptismal interviews for my district. And when I have baptisms I cant do my own interviews of my own investigators, so the Z-Leaders come out and interview them.

Transfered to Salamanca, 350 baptism's for the month of May. 3825 hits

2009-06-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

I am in my new area, here in Salamanca, Guanajuato, in the Irapuato Zone. I am really enjoying it, the city is actually very nice. I must say I am really enjoying it here. My comp is Elder Whittle, he's a really good kid, who has about a year in the mission. He is from Riverton Utah. Hes about 6´3 and 215 pounds, he's a pretty big guy. His spanish is coming along, he struggles a little bit, but is always making progress and willing to accept suggestions. He's a really humble, quiet person, and very, very patient, but he likes to work hard which is good, we get along very well.

As for my foot, it still hurts, right now medication helps but it doesnt take the pain away like before. Today I am actually going to Leon to have a meeting with Pres. Cox and a few other Zone/District leaders, so I will talk to Sis.Cox. But until we get more Xrays of better quality, we wont know what to do.

Elder Ditto is doing well, right now he is in San Luis Potosi. He is still a trainer, but I think he will be moved up to District Leader by next change. Elder Maxfield is still an office secretary, and Elder Callen was also moved up as a district leader, so we are all doing well. As for feeling like an old timer/experienced, sometimes I do because all of the people that were in the mission when I got here are all going home. Even Elder Velez MY trainer from Irapuato is going home in August, so the mission is changing alot. As for President Cox considering who will be a District or Zone leader, I know he considers our weekly numbers, what the zone leaders opinion is about us, and our interviews with him tells him alot, other than that I am not too sure. As for the packages, I STILL havent gotten them, although I know they are in the mission offices. Today I am going to Leon for a leadership conference so I will pick them up today!!! =D! Other than that, All is very well. We were informed that Elder Bednar will be coming the 20th of this month! But we will not have interviews with him =(, just a mission conference. Either way it will be fun, and a great experience. Also, we ended this month with a little over 350 baptisms, we over shot our goal of 300 by 50 baptisms! We are all very excited. And tired, =D.

I have to run, but I love and miss you all.

Con amor, elder Salazar

304 Baptism's - goal achieved, Foot x-rays, transfer, district leader. 3760

2009-05-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad,

I loved the wedding pics. Everything looks like it went really well. That’s funny you took my graduation pictures =D. I am excited for Nathan and Jen; I know they will be great together.

Here’s the big news:

We reached our Mission goal of 300 baptisms yesterday. We have 304 right now, with one week left! WE DID IT!!!! Things are well here. Elder Krebs and I didn’t reach our personal goal of 4 baptisms yet, we only have 3. BUT we still have 2 scheduled baptisms for next week, so in the area of Cardenas we may be able to fulfill our goal still, even though we already have 300 in the mission.

I am being changed from Cardenas to.....Irapuato Guanajuato! AGAIN!!!! But to another area there called Salamanca. My companion will be an American named Elder Whittle with about 6-7 months in the mission. I will now be a District Leader! =D!

Cardenas threw me a huge going away sacrament meeting, people gave me gifts, made me a cake, sang to me and a lot of people were crying.

I had to go take x-rays of my foot. Luckily nothing is broken. But I did get a call from the mission doctor; he says I have a Cyst in my foot and that I opened it/caved it in. He wants more x-rays of my foot, and then he will decide what to do. My foot continues hurting.

Sorry this email is short.

Love you all!

1. About how much money do you need per month to provide for food etc? (Questions 1-3 submitted by the Trader family)

------If we don’t spend like crazies, about 600 pesos ($60) lasts us a whole month (Strictly food though).

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2. What would you say to someone who might be serving a mission one year from now - what should they do to prepare?

---Learn from three gardens.

1) The Garden of Eden.

2) The Garden of Gethsemane.

3) The Sacred Grove.
You will gain an understanding of the gospel, and a strong testimony, and with that testimony comes a strong desire to share it with others. Even if your're not a great speaker or don’t know the language well, people will be able to feel the spirit of your testimony and message.

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3. Do people there listen to pop music or Mexican/Mariachi?

------People here listen to all kinds, but mostly: Reggaeton and ranchera (Mexican country music).

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4. I have a question for Ben please. He talks about the goal to baptize 300 people, what time frame does that entail? Is this by region, does he have a personal goal for his 2 year period of missionary work? I can see in the pictures he sends that he is losing his little boy look. (Question submitted by Maggie)
------Good question. Our goals in the mission are usually entailed in a one month period. Our goal of 300 baptisms was limited to the month of May. We also usually break our goals down into weeks, days, even hourly so that we are able to achieve. I have my own personal goals of people I want to help baptize also, when I achieve it, you will all know =).

241 Baptism's, water pipe repaired. 3685

2009-05-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hey mom, Hey pops,

good to hear from ya. Things are shakin’ back home?? I bet Sasha was freaked!! That’s really sad to hear about Sis. Byers. What a tragedy and terrible thing to happen to her. This last week we were visiting a recent convert here in Cardenas who happens to be epileptic. We were talking when all of a sudden he started having one of his attacks, and he began vomiting and shouting. It was very sad also. I guess we can all just trust in the lord and his resurrection, that one day these types of tragedies won’t exist.

First off I still haven’t gotten the medication, but I will today!! Right after we go eat... The reason I haven’t gotten it is because we have soo much to do, we are 100% work here, there is 0 time to relax or take it easy. Even this month we haven’t had p-days, that’s why I have to write so early, because we only have till 11am as our p-day. Things are basically back to normal here in Cardenas , the water situation is over and today the kids are going back to school. Although, all kids must wear doctor masks, and must bring their own hand sanitizer. Also, all teachers have to wear doctor masks.

Things here are well in the mission. If I heard right, we baptized 91 people this weekend so that brings us up to around 240 in the month of may, leaving us with 2 weeks to baptize 60 people. President told us that if we baptized 90 people last weekend he was already going to call Elder Bednar! This week Elder Krebs and I baptized 3 people, the baptisms went well. We need just 1 more to baptize our goal of 4! But we had kind of a hard week. We had over 15 people who were going to get baptized, all but 3 backed out at the last minute. It’s hard going from 18 scheduled baptisms to 3, but that’s how the lord works sometimes.

Sorry to hear about your truck, at least now you have a good reason to buy a new one! There is a Ford F150 in the exact same style as yours here in Cardenas , same color and everything. Sometimes I think it’s you coming to give us a ride somewhere.

Anyways, things here are well in Cardenas . This is our last week of the change. So by the next time I write you I could be heading off to a new area, today I fulfill 4 months here in Cardenas so I wouldn’t be surprised if president changes me. As for the packages, I haven’t seen President Cox in over a month but last night I was talking to Elder Verdeja who works in the offices and he told me that I have quite a few packages, he asked me if he could open them to make sure if all the candy was ok and wasn’t damaged, I told him NO! Other than that, I am excited for Nathans wedding. I hope all goes well. Erica will be there for me in my place, I will be there in spirit. I will answer your questions.

Love ya mom, all is well here in Cardenas !

Elder Salazar

1. I know you are there on Mission , but do you get time to do your own thing, such as go sight seeing or anything like that? Question submitted by Tony Crespo.

------Yes, at times. Usually when we are not in a sacrifice month, our p-days start Monday morning till 5 in the afternoon, and during that time is when we head downtown to check things out. But here in Cardenas there isn’t much to see, a dog, a few cows, things like that.

2. How's Elder Krebs Spanish coming along, and do you speak English to him?

------He is still struggling but is making progress. I do speak English to him sometimes but the majority of the time I speak Spanish to him.

3. Do any of the people that live in Cardenas speak English?

------Actually there are a lot of people who speak English. Cardenas happens to be one of the major stops people make before trying their luck at crossing the border. Also when people get deported from the US a lot of them come here. So there happens to be quite a few people who speak English. It's the weirdest thing, basically 90% of the people here who have family and/or go to the US on a regular basis always go to Oklahoma .

4. What kind of food do you get at your "own little Fantastic Burger" there in Cardenas ?

------I usually get 1 of two things. First, these type of tacos called "Gringas". They are flower tortillas with carne asada, cheese, lettuce, tomato,avocado and sour cream. They are delicious. Or I get what’s called a "Torta de lomo". It’s basically a sandwich, that comes with a shredded beef, lettuce, sour cream, and avocado. They both cost 15 pesos, or about $1.50. But they are really good

Swine Flu, Mothers Day 3599

2009-05-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad,

It was really nice hearing from you guys yesterday. I know you guys had a little bit of trouble getting through. But I know you always pull through and are able to make it happen. Your voices never change but everyone keeps telling me that my voice has changed. Lol, that’s pretty funny.

Things here in Cardenas are ok. There have been 3 cases of the swine flu here, so we are all being careful, but slowly things are going back to normal. The water is slowly being restored, and we are allowed to wear ties again, but they have cancelled school here in Cardenas for another week.

I took pictures of our house, and kitchen, and the hardware store we live above, like you asked. As for the package, I can’t really think of anything else I need. Whatever you guys feel like sending, just send it. I use everything.

My foot still hurts, but I plan on going back to the pharmacy and buying the medication she offered me. I think that Mexico is pretty good with medication, they sell a lot of medication for really cheap.

Anyways, I am out of time and this computer is really slow. Right now Elder Krebs and I are going to go to our usual Monday brunch. We have our own little "Fantastic Burger", it’s awesome. Afterwards we have a service project at a members house. We are going to clean up his back yard in preparation for the baptisms next Sunday. I will take some pics. Thanks for everything!

Love Elder Salazar

1. How do people celebrate Mothers day in Mexico. A man was telling me, it's celebrated on a different day than in the US.
------No, they celebrate it here on the 10th of May too. Not too much different from the US. Although I was asking a lot of female members here what their children were going to give them for mothers day and everyone looked at me weird. Apparently it’s not too common to give gifts to your mom on mothers day. Although we did see a lot of mariachis playing and some people were bbq'ing.

2. Were there big Cinco De Mayo parties, or celebrations this past week?
------Not really, just mothers day, but nothing too crazy. Although, on July 6th Cardenas will be having its town elections. And right now all the candidates are driving around blasting their announcements, and giving out bags, stickers, etc.

3. This past weekend the mission baptized another 78. So right now we are at 156 with 3 weekends left to baptize! If we keep baptizing 78 till the end of the month we will have 300 and Elder Bednar will come visit and interview us.
The mission is asking that all companionships baptize 4, Elder Krebs and I should have our 4 this weekend, pray for us!

Flu epidemic, and no water

2009-05-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hey ma, hey pops,

Elder Krebs and I are doing well. Cardenas is in quite the crisis right now. Many city services are closed due to the flu, and everyone is scared to leave their homes due to the flu. Secondly a pipe broke around here somewhere and the whole town is without water, and they still haven’t fixed it. Water sometimes arrives to the houses at about 630am to 700am, but it's not enough. A lot of people are suffering. There is very, very little water. Many people have to go to the local pozos(wells?) and water springs around here and are carrying water back to their houses, its pretty sad. It definitely has been a wake up call to me, to heed the counsel of the church and have at least a 2 week supply of food and water. I have seen first hand how a town reacts when they don’t have water. We are doing ok, because we use very little water. Because we are never home, our tanks fills up when we are away.

Other than that the work is going forth. Elder Krebs and I found almost 20 new people to teach this week and we taught over 40 lessons and we put over 10 baptism dates for the 16th of May. We also found 2 families this week, so we are very excited. Pray for us that these families and people keep progressing towards their baptism.

Good to hear that Colin and Bryce are doing well. I am excited Bryce is making it to a mission. I think him going on a mission is by far one of the most critical decisions he could make in his life, now he can depend on the lord to make him into the bishop, husband, responsible father that he will need to be in the years following his mission.

It was funny to hear about Mike Corona. I say funny because at one point in his life Mike Corona was in charge of the jails, now he’s going to be in jail. Weird how that works. And ouch for Chad Reed, losing the title by a mere 3 points. I bet he won’t do as well in Outdoor motocross because Reed is a Supercross rider and I think Bubba excels in the outdoors as a motocross rider. I like the pics you have been sending me, seeing those pistols makes me homesick!! Elder Krebs likes looking at them too, I dont think he’s ever shot a gun before.

Anyways...I will answer your questions now.

tu hijo amado,

El Elder Salazarrr!

1. Are there any senior couples serving in the Mexico, Leon mission? Do they speak Spanish? (question submitted by the person formerly known as Bishop Robinson)

------At the current time no there aren’t. But In Cardenas I had the opportunity to meet a Humanitarian Aid couple serving for the church here in Mexico and they were actually from Southern California. Their names were Brother and Sister Olsen. They weren’t from the Garden Grove stake but were from, I believe, the Brea stake?? Nevertheless, they were good friends of President Lewis, and knew gramma and grampa Hicken. They also knew many other people from our stake.

2. What precautions is the church taking because of the flu?

------ I am not 100% sure but I believe almost all church sacrament meetings in Mexico have been cancelled the last two weeks and this next Sunday. I am 100% sure that here in my mission all services in SLP, Guanajuato and Aguascalientes have been cancelled.

3. How is the missionary efforts being affected by the flu?

------We are taking advantage! Many people strongly believe this is a plague sent by god, and that the world is ending. People are inviting us in to ask us if that is true and we happily answer their questions, and teach them the truth. Also, many people are trying to stay home and avoid leaving the house due to the sickness. So when we knock doors, ALOT of people are home and willing to listen.

4. Think of something to put here, I'm out of questions...dad.

------This last weekend we broke the mission record of baptisms in 1 week. Our mission baptized 80 people! And we still have 4 weeks left, to get to 300!!

Swine Flu Epidemic

2009-04-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hey ma, Hey dad,

Thanks for the Email. first off, I loved the pics of the desert trip. Especially the one of Uncle Mike and Justin…. classic. I was amazed at how much food you guys cooked, that’s awesome. Every time I have been to Hodge we have only made foil dinners and cooked hot dogs. Sometimes we have had peach cobbler. Sorry about your table, lol. Sounds like the wedding shower went really well too. Erica told me she washed a ton of dishes, hahaha.

Anyways, things are ok here. People are really worried about this Swine flu epidemic. The Area 70s will be making a decision soon about what to do. But church has been cancelled for two weeks, and I imagine they will do something with us missionaries, but we will find out.

From what I have heard, they have cancelled all buses from Cardenas and Rio Verde to San Luis Potosi, so basically we are isolated here in Cardenas. People here are walking around with doctor’s masks on and even we have masks. I personally have been feeling fine and there have been zero cases of the flu here in Cardenas but we are definitely taking all measures of safety here. I am trying to wash my hands and we actually don’t shake hands with anyone because everyone is afraid of this disease. I feel fine and my foot is finally getting better.

Please give Uncle Eddie my support even from here in Mexico. This heart attack comes just as much a surprise to me as to him I believe, I hope all is well.

As for this week, things have been going ok. We had zone conference this week and it went well as usual. This month of May we are going to try to get 300 again, but with these 2 cancelled Sundays in SLP we are already getting off on the wrong foot. Elder Krebs and I have been ok, right now we are really struggling to find people to teach that are sincere. We teach from 5-9 lessons a day but some times find only 0,1,2,3 new people to keep teaching because most people let us in but don’t want us to come back. So we have been a little down about that, we have basically knocked ALL of Cardenas. But my foot is finally getting better and every day I am excited to leave the house to start working, so basically I can’t really complain about anything, I am trying to do my best and be 100% diligent and letting the lord do the rest. Anyways, I gotta run. I am going to try to upload some pics but this computer seems to not be working right.

Love and miss you! Con amor,

Tu hijo,

Elder Salazar

2009-04-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Hey ma! Hey pops,

I am glad you liked that picture of Tomas and I. I too really enjoyed that baptism, it was pretty special for me.

I am glad you had a good time in Utah, here in Mexico they say that Utah is the Mormon factory. Also there is a state here in Mexico called "Yucatan" and all the elders who are from Mexico we say they are from "U-ta-tan." Lol. Anyways things here are well,

How are things? Things here are well, my foot still hurts!! Its really starting to annoy me, I think today I will go back to the member at the pharmacy. She had given me some inflammation pills but only 4 and she said if you like these you can come back and I will sell you the bottle. So I think today I will head back, also the other thing is that she is telling me I have to take an entire day off of work but that’s not so easy to do here. As for stamps, don’t worry about sending any. I just go to the post office here and they send my letters for about 10 pesos so it’s not too expensive. Last night I wrote you and mom, Erica and her fam and grandma and grandpa letters. Although there is a little something I would like, and if you can’t or don’t want to buy it don’t worry about it. But I would really like to have the "Called to Serve" CD by the tabernacle choir. It came out when I was in the MTC and I really liked it, I just never bought it.

Anyways, nothing too new happened this week. Yesterday in sacrament meeting I was asked to give a talk on "How to obtain, grow and strengthen a testimony." Everyone told me they really liked it so I think it went well. Also we had the Director of Seminary and Institute come and visit us in the branch, and while I was teaching my Gospel Principles class he pulled me out and asked if I could teach seminary one day a week in the afternoons. So now I am not only a full time missionary but I also teach seminary! It should be fun, we will be studying the New Testament. Anyways, not much other than that. I will keep this short because the computer is really running slow. I love and miss you all.

Thanks for everything!

Love ya! Adios!

Love Elder Salazar

1. Are there other religions proselyting in Cardenas?
------There are lots of religions here, but the only one that proselytes are The Jehovah Witness. They usually proselyte on Fridays because on Saturdays is when they have their meetings.

2. How's Elder Krebs doing being away from home, and do you have much in common?
------He’s doing well actually. We have a few things in common, he wants to be a pilot after college so we like to talk about planes and a few other things.

3. Have you met any Americans lately?
------Actually we met a Mexican/American. His mother is Mexican and is from Cardenas, but his dad is American and is from New Jersey. He was born and raised in the US for half his life and the other half he has lived in Cardenas. He speaks English and Spanish but just has a bad Spanish accent when he speaks. But it’s funny because he’s a big tall white guy that looks totally American, but he speaks with a Spanish accent. He’s a nice guy, he’s pretty religious also, but belongs to the Pentecostal church.

4. Do you speak much English with Krebs or anybody else?
------With Elder Krebs I have prohibited English. But the members like to have us teach them English, so sometimes we speak English to them.

5. Are there enough kids to have a YM/YW program? How many youth members are there?
------Youth we actually have quite a few. We have about 10-12, but it’s just hard to get them active and participating. What we need is more activities so they are actually interested in learning and participating.

No words are necessary on todays blog....

2009-04-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

2009-04-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hey pops,

Good to hear from ya... That’s cool to hear that mom decided to take a mini vacation. Our week went ok here, we weren’t able to baptize that kid but its ok he will be baptized soon, I just don’t know when.

My foot today is actually really good, this last week was really hard, my foot got worse and I was starting to have pains in my right knee because I walk awkwardly due to the pain in my foot. The doctor here in our branch didn’t help me at all. He told me I just needed to exercise my foot by running or playing soccer. So I decided to go see another member who runs a pharmacy. She said that I probably hurt my foot or touched a nerve and that it was sore/swollen and because we are always walking and never rest it hasn’t been able to heal, so she gave me some medication to speed up the healing and told me that I needed to rest my foot. Today my foot doesn’t have any pain so I am really happy.

As for my journal, honestly I do not write in it. I do write who my converts are, and all of my companion’s addresses, and significant things that happen to me here in the mission. But I don’t write a daily account of the things we do here.

We were able to watch a little bit of general conference here in Cardenas, we all met in a lawyers office and watched it on a computer, it went well, only the computer kept stalling every now and then to buffer and after a while it got annoying.

Things are well here in Cardenas, the weather has been weird. It has been really, really hot, then really windy, now it’s raining and cold. Either way I really, really love Cardenas, so far in my mission it has been my favorite area. I think it’s because it’s beautiful here, the people are nice and the members are all really humble. It’s really funny because the town is so small that people know us by name, they watch us and sometimes the members tell us that friends and co-workers make positive comments about us. I also love Cardenas because I feel like we are really building the church here. The church is so small, and almost all of the active members are so new that when we teach them something it’s a brand new principle to them. We teach them to bless and pass the sacrament, we teach them about temples, we teach them about the organization of the church and lots of other things and we see how their testimony grows. James E. Talmage in his book Jesus the Christ (pub. 1915) made the comment that The gospel of Jesus Christ wont change the world by revolutionary overthrows of already existing governments or through anarchy, but by teaching all people their individual duty and how to fulfill that duty, also by spreading the love of god among the world. When people honestly learn to love their neighbor as they love themselves, hatred, racism, intolerance and all other injustices will cease and governments will conform, making this world a better place. I think what Elder Talmage says is true.

Love you and miss you,

Elder Salazar

PS. I sent out two letters two weeks ago, 1 to Gramma and Grandpa Salazar and the other to Grammy and Grandpa Hicken.

1. Was Pres. Cox able to baptize the young man in Cardenas?
------No, we originally had planned for the young man and his dad to travel from Cardenas to San Luis Potosi (3 hours) to meet Pres. Cox but the kids dads car broke down and they didn’t make it.

2. What has been your most embarrassing moment?
------One I can think of off the top of my head was when I accidentally made fun of our ward mission leader because his girlfriend cheated on him. We were in a meeting with our ward mission leader (a young kid about 18 years old). I asked him how his girlfriend and her mom were doing because her mom is a convert and I hadn’t seen them in a while. When he said bad, they had broken up because of her cheating on him. I started laughing. I had misunderstood and thought that he said HE had cheated on her, when he really said SHE cheated on him. He just looked at me, and I looked up, and all the other missionaries were just looking at me. I felt bad and apologized because I had misunderstood. But boy did I feel crappy, lol.

3. What did you do to celebrate your one year in the mission field?
------Actually nothing really, that night at about 7:30 we went to our meeting house where the Relief Society was having a get together and watching "The Testaments" church movie. We just kinda took it easy, ate and watched the movie. That was my own personal treat.

4. How is the missions goal of 300 baptism's in a month, to get a Temple, going?
------We actually broke a mission record in the month of March and baptized 223 people. Something that has never, ever been achieved in the history of the mission. Elder Bednar promised President Cox that if we baptize 300, he will come to the mission and speak and interview all the missionaries personally.

5. How do they celebrate Easter in Cardenas?
------So far we haven’t seen much, a few parades here and there where the people walk around holding the virgin. This Friday is the live crucifixion of Christ. I will take some pics.

2009-03-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Ma and Pa,

Things here are going well.

We got Isabele married on Tuesday and baptized on Saturday. Both events went really well. The Relief Society really helped us out with the wedding, they made a ton of really good food. The baptism Saturday was beautiful, we baptized Isabele in a river in a secluded part of Cardenas, it was really nice. Saturday, before the baptism, Elder Krebs, and I and a member went along the river looking for a good place to baptize Isabele. We ended up going pretty deep into the woods, and all of a sudden I saw something moving in the grass. After a couple of seconds I realized... a snake!! It was huge and green with a yellow head, we were all pretty scared. On the way back to the car we ended up seeing one more but a little smaller.

Right now Elder Krebs and I are actually in downtown San Luis Potosi because tomorrow we have zone conference. We might also have a baptism tomorrow, a kid from Cardenas wants to get baptized but only if president Cox baptizes him. So they are planning to make the 3 hour drive here.

We are preparing for conference this weekend. My comp and I won’t be able to see the priesthood session on Saturday, due to the fact that we don’t have a church building. We are planning to watch the sessions at a members office who has a computer. Also we are preparing for the 1st week of April, which the Mexicans call Semana Santa(holy week). And they will portray the crucifixion live!!

Thanks for asking about Elder Krebs, he is doing well, he is struggling a bit with his Spanish but he is making progress.

All is well here, Thanks for all the love!!

Con amor,

Elder Salazar

2009-03-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hey mom,

Crazy to hear things are pretty bad in Tijuana. My other companion, Elder Lopez was from Tijuana. the 2 most dangerous places here in Mexico are 1. Distrito Federal, the capitol of Mexico and 2.The Tijuana Border. But all is well here in Cardenas.

On Friday they had a humongous parade with all the kids from the schools ages 1-5. They dressed them up in costumes and everything, it was really nice. The members here are doing really well, everyone is happy and doing good. Yesterday we had 51 people in church so that was really nice. We almost don’t all fit in the Pharmacy anymore, sometimes we even run out of chairs. Anyways, I am doing well, I hurt my foot about a month ago and it continues to hurt every day, but there is a member here who is a really well known doctor here in Cardenas and I am going to talk to him about it and see what he says. Anyways, please tell Ricky & Sara, Justin & Vanessa, Nate & Jen I say hi!

Love Always,
Elder Salazar

¿Que hay? Hey dad, things here are going well. The weather has been very, very nice these past days, a little warm but very nice. The State of San Luis Potosi has a big dip in the middle, and in the middle of that dip is where Cardenas is located, so a lot of times the eastern and western sides of the state get the bad weather and Cardenas only gets the good weather.

This week went well for us, we found a family of 7 people and we are working hard with them. I am really praying that heavenly father opens their hearts to the gospel. 7 Baptisms wouldn’t hurt...lol. As for Isabelle, she will be getting married tomorrow at about 1pm, and afterwards we will throw a little reception for her and her husband Tony, in the church. The relief society is really pitching in and helping us out with the reception. We have next Saturday planned for her baptism, she keeps saying that she wants to be baptised in the river here so we will see what happens.

That was good to hear about Justin, I am really happy that everything is going well for him. It’s amazing how fast time flies and how fast we all grow up. I remember working with Justin one time in Wilmington, I think it was the first time I had crawled under a house. I have always enjoyed going to work with Justin, just because I learn so much.

Lately I have been making fun of Elder Krebs, I will explain... Here in Cardenas there is a flea infestation problem. Fleas crawl on the dogs, crawl in the streets, and on a lot of other things here. They also seem to enjoy crawling on Elder Krebs. The poor guy (Elder Krebs) has been bitten probably over 60 times and he has a ton of little red bites on his arms, legs, etc. I keep telling him it’s because the fleas love his pure American blood. Amazingly I only have about 2 bites. =D! We have since taken care of the flea problem in our beds and have yet to find anymore fleas in the house.

Lori sent me a copy of her talk last week and it was really good, I knew she would do a great job. As for my motorcycle, I would really appreciate it if you sold it because I would like to get a new one after I get home, plus I have some other plans and riding is kinda in the back of my mind for right now. Anyways, I’ll keep this one a little short, I’m planning on sending out two letters today if I can, 1 to gma y gpa Hicken y 1 to gma y gpa Salazar.

1. Have you had any especially funny moments on your mission?
------Too many to name, the last funny one I can think of was a couple months back when I lived with the zone leaders in SLP. Elder Dalton grabbed my pepper spray and like the most intelligent elder he is, he sprayed it in the house. Anyways, this was in the night time and we all used to sleep in the same room, so we all layed down to go to sleep but about 30 minutes into sleeping we all started coughing and wheezing because the pepper spray had moved towards the open window. It was pretty funny because we all woke up coughing and rubbing our eyes and then we all decided to beat up Elder Dalton.

2. Are there any organized sports in the areas you have served?
------Yeah there are quite a few. They have baseball, some areas have football, of course all have soccer.

3. What has been your most embarrassing moment on your mission?
------Lol, I cant think of one. But Ill try to remember one in the week and I will write it next week.

4. I couldn't think of anything else to ask you.
------ Funny story: This week Elder Krebs and I were contacting in the street when all of a sudden this guy runs out of a pharmacy with a big cup of hair gel. He ran over to us and while putting gel in his hair kept asking us "brother, save me!!". I just tapped him on the shoulder and said "brother, I cant!". He then just started walking down the street. Shortly after this incident the police showed up, but they were two really fat police officers. As they jumped out of the truck to detain the person, the guy started running down the street so both police officers start running after him, but they only ran about 15 feet and then gave up!! And the guy got away!! I’m pretty sure the guy was drunk, on drugs or both. But I thought it was pretty funny to see the fat police officers give up so easy.

Love ya!

Elder Salazar

2009-03-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom y Dad,

Things here are going well. This last week was a little rough, we had about 3 baptisms scheduled and they all fell through. As for my health I have been doing very well. Before I came to Cardenas, Elder Hines gave me his bottle of Multi Vitamin pills that his mom sent him. I have been taking one every day and so I always feel really good. As For Elder Krebs, he is doing well. We are working on his Spanish, but he is struggling a little but is always making progress. It turns out that his dad served a mission in Chile, and that’s where his dad met his mom. So his mom is Chilean or from Chile, yet he still struggles. He has been adjusting to Mexico well. It was pretty funny that the first day he was here, the family we ate with made us the spiciest food they make to welcome him here, it was pretty funny to see him react.

As for the mail system here in Cardenas, I’m not to sure how it works, mail only gets delivered here once a week, but I’m not sure how outgoing mail works here. Today I will ask at our lunch appointment how it works and respond next week.

As for the missionary work, we also have been having a hard time finding people to teach but we are working hard everyday. It seems to me that when we run into challenges it is because after the challenge comes the success. This weekend we have scheduled one baptism of a lady named Isabelle, she is about 32-33 and we are going to get her married to her boyfriend this week so she can get baptized Saturday, I’ve never helped anyone get married so we will see how this goes, pray for us!

This month of March we don’t get P-days because President wants 300 baptisms in the mission this month and so we are all sacrificing our p-days in order to work more. It should be just this month. So that means I have to keep this email short. I am going to try to send some pictures but this computer is running really, really slow, so if they don’t get through you will know why.

Thanks for all the love and support, Con mucho cariño,

Elder Salazar

1. Do you drink the water?
------No, we always buy water jugs called "Garrafones" they are purified water jugs that cost about 20 pesos, one usually lasts us 1 month. We use them to drink water, brush teeth, I bought a Gatorade mix last week so I have been using water with that also.

2. How have the dogs been treating you?
------Very well, except some times when we come home at night we find fleas on us!! And we know it comes from the dogs. My poor companion probably has over 40 bug bites, I only have about 2. I keep telling him it’s because the fleas love the pure blood of Americans.

3. How is the branch taking the news of plans to build a church building in Cardenas?
------Very well also, the members who have the longest time here in Cardenas are the most excited.

4. Is there anything you need us to send you, that you can’t get there?
------No, not really, I’m doing pretty well on everything.

5. Of the church books you have read in English and Spanish, did the change of language make a difference in your understanding, or enhance your ability to teach better?
------A little bit of both, through studying in English I have learned a lot more and now understand the gospel 1000x better than before the mission and through studying in Spanish, I increased my Spanish vocabulary thus making it easier for me to communicate and teach in Spanish.

One Year Anniversary; Thursday, March 12, 2009, and new companion

2009-03-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hey ma!

Good to hear from you. Things here have been well. We are having lots of success so the mission is really good right now. Sounds like Mormal (Mormon Formal) went well. I bet everyone looked great, that was a really fun experience I was glad I was able to go.

I really enjoyed what you said about primary, I too will not forget that experience, or this experience I am having, being in such a small branch.

I too am starting to get a little worried about the economy, Elder Krebs tells me that it’s pretty bad, he just came from the US a week ago so I have been asking him a ton of questions.

Anyways, sorry I have to keep this short but I love and miss you. I really enjoyed the experience to baptize in a river. All is well, All is well!
Con amor, Elder Salazar

Hey pop,

This week has gone well. We have traveled a ton this past week. About 10 hours in total. My new companion is named Elder Krebs; he is from West Jordan, Utah. fresh and green from the MTC.
He’s a really good guy with a desire to learn.

It was pretty funny when I first met him I didn’t speak a single word of English to him and I told him that I was Mexican. I held out from speaking English the entire 3 hour bus ride from SLP to Cardenas and he didn’t understand a single word I spoke to him. Finally when we got home to Cardenas I admitted that I wasn’t Mexican, he made a really funny face when I spoke English and was pretty surprised, although he tells me that "he already knew".

This week went well; we had 1 baptism of a 10 year old kid named Elio, that went ok. I'll explain... as some of you know we don’t have a church building here. We meet on the 3rd floor of a Pharmacy. Also, we don’t have a real baptism font, we have a big portable structure with a tarp that we use as a font. Lately we have been using Zip-ties to hold the tarp to the structure. In the last baptism we encountered a problem. Just as Elio was about to get into the baptism font, the zip-ties started breaking 1 by 1 due to the weight of the water, so we had to hurry! As Elio got in he started to get scared of the water, so he got baptized really fast. As he went down into the water, his foot came up out of the water thus making the baptism invalid. He would have to go down again. Also, as he came up, water had gotten in his nose and it wasn’t a very enjoyable experience. Elio was convinced that he would not go under water a 2nd time. So we immediately started negotiating with Elio, telling him this time it would be better etc etc. We FINALLY convinced him to do it a 2nd time, only this time he sat him self down I held his hands, and we basically had to shove him under the water. I must admit that this was one of the craziest baptisms I have seen/experienced in my entire mission.

This week should go a little better, if all goes well we should baptize 4 this weekend, we might have the opportunity to do it in a river again.

Its fun being a trainer and a little stressful, I have to do EVERYTHING because my companion doesn’t speak a single word of Spanish. I teach ALL the lessons, make ALL the contacts and do everything. Yet it's fun helping him out, seeing him suffer from the hot food and the language(just a little bit) =D and seeing him progress, everyday he picks up a little here and a little there.

Yesterday we received a really awesome announcement in church. One of the members of the SLP High Council came and visited the branch, he first started by thanking all of the elders who have been here in Cardenas for the work they’ve done and then announced that the Stake of SLP had submitted a petition for a church building here in Cardenas and they had received a reply from Salt Lake. He then announced that Salt Lake had replied in the positive and said that in 2010 the church will begin construction of a church building here in Cardenas!! Everyone here is surprised and really, really excited/happy. So we have reached our goal, to have a church building here! Now we have to maintain all of our progress so the members will get their building here. It feels good, I feel like a part of the history of the church here in Cardenas.

Anyways, gotta run, But I’m lovin and missin you all. Whoo hooo, 1 year mark!!!

Love, elder Salazar

Shout outs to Grammy and Grandpa Hicken, and Grandma and Grandpa Salazar for their Letters!!

1. Elder Ben, at one 1 yr in my mission it was a ritual to burn a white shirt. At 2 years you burn your suit. What did you do for your 1 yr anniversary? - Clint
------Nice! That’s actually a pretty popular tradition here in the Mexico Leon mission. A lot of elder’s burn shirts or ties. As for me, I need my shirts and ties. But I’m going to ask one of the families here If they will help me bake a confetti cake(like back home!) or some brownies, that’s what I did with my trainer in the mission when he reached the 1 year mark, it was a lot of fun so I think I will do the same.

2. What are some of your favorite sights or places to visit in the areas you have served?
------I really enjoy going downtown, or here in Cardenas I like going up in the hills to see the pueblo. It’s really beautiful.

3. Is there law enforcement or medical help in Cardenas?
------ Yeah, the Red Cross is here in Cardenas and they run all the medical stuff here. As for law enforcement, they do have law enforcement here, but really they don’t enforce anything.

4. Is there more than one school in Cardenas?
------ There are a few elementarys, Jr.Highs, 1 high school, and 1 junior college (but very very small).

2009-03-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hey dad,

This week went well, very tranquil and relaxed. We were able to baptize two people this week. We baptized them in a river, it was awesome. I’m actually in downtown SLP right now, but I don’t have my camera cable with me. Next week I will definitely send pics. I will be receiving a new companion today, but I STILL don’t know who he is, or if he’s American or Mexican. He will be arriving in Leon today. Tomorrow he will go back with me to Cardenas. Elder Verdeja actually received a special assignment in Leon, he will now be a secretary to the president in the mission offices, he was very excited.

Things in Cardenas have been nice. Oddly enough, I seem to be meeting a lot of Americans here lately. Some are little kids visiting family here. I met one man Friday who was visiting a friend. The man I met Friday was from Lake Tahoe, California. He knew all about the church. He actually recited from memory the promise in Moroni 10 "And when you receive these things I would exhort you to ask God the eternal father in the name of Christ, if these things are true..." He wasn’t a member, but told me as a young kid he investigated the church, but never became a member. We had a very nice talk. I must say that speaking english has become EVEN harder for me. Sometimes, days go by before I realize I haven’t spoken a single word in english for several days.

You mentioned me having one year in the mission, I too cannot believe how fast time really flies. I have been reflecting a lot on my past experiences, areas and companions. I’ve come to a lot of conclusions and realized that there are a few things I need to better about myself. I am satisfied with my first year as a missionary, I think it has been successful.

As for my most treasured experiences, I have too many to write in one email, but there is a treasured feeling that with diligence every missionary comes to feel. I would say it’s the feeling of accomplishment. When I feel like I have worked hard and have accomplished much I don’t feel far from home, I feel closer. My favorite days are the days when even though we are tired, and hungry and have been walking ALL day, days when I know that I have tried or done my best, I feel like we have accomplished much, that’s when I rest well. Times of that feeling are my most treasured.

As for my least favorite time in the mission, there are only a few. But in general it’s when due to the free agency of others, people deny themselves of the blessings of the gospel. As missionaries, we come to know it as "rejection". It’s very frustrating, but its something we must deal with and learn from. But through all the rejection and hard times, I have never told myself that I would rather be anywhere else in the world but here in the mission, because I know that this is where I need to be right now.

Thanks for all the love and support, gotta run!

Love ya!

SHOUT OUT to the Cub Scouts. Thanks for the letters, I DID get them!!

1. Do you see Hondas, Yamahas, or Bultacos running around? -Clint
------ In Cardenas people have a lot of 4wheeler Hondas and Yamahas, they use them for daily transportation. As for Bultacos, I don’t think so. I have seen a ton of really old motorcycles here but I haven’t recognized any CZs or Bultacos

2. Do people like you missionaries?
------ Some do, some don’t. A lot of people judge us before knowing us, they think we come to criticize them, so some people don’t even give us 5 seconds to speak, its rough.

3. Are there any local customs that you've had to get used to?
------ A couple, suffice to say that the Bathroom situation here is different, its outdated. I have had to get used to that and also we only have water here certain times of the day, so we have to plan some things out.

4. Are the small town kids of Cardenas any different than the SLP or Irapuato kids?
------ Yes, In Cardenas the kids are a lot more respectful, in downtown SLP and Irapuato they like to say things to us and throw stuff at us.

5. You've had all Mexican companions, as an American, what effect have you had on them?
------ I have had 4 Mexican companions, and with all four I have always tried to be respectful and treat them as I would anyone else. I have never tried to act like I’m better just because I’m from the US, nor have I made negative comments about Mexico.

2009-02-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hey dad,

This week went well, although to start off, we had kind of another scary experience, I don’t like to tell you these kind of stories but I figure you would rather know than not know… On Tuesday we were checking a referral a member had given us the Sunday before. Elder Verdeja and I knocked the door and a lady came out to the street to talk to us. As we were talking to the lady, a man inside the house shouted something. We couldn’t see him nor did we understand what he said. The man then walked outside the house and to the backyard. We were still talking to the lady when the man returned only this time he came back holding a machete. He advanced towards us telling us it was time for us to leave. Elder Verdeja and I immediately started walking away, only I didn’t turn my back to him I just started walking away backwards because I wanted to keep him in full sight. Elder Verdeja and I then went to a members house to rest and talk. We don’t know why, or understand the reason for the aggressiveness of this guy. We posed no threat to him, nor did we say anything to offend him or his wife. It makes me very angry that people like him exist, also that his neighbors were outside, and instead of helping us, they now make fun of us, especially the little kids. They think it’s funny that we got ran out with a machete. So this week I have been trying to control a lot of anger.

3 of our 5 programmed baptisms fell through but we still baptized 2 people this week. A very nice lady and her grandson, the baptism went well. Baptisms here are a TON of work.

This is the last week of the change, so next Monday I will probably know who my new companion is and where Elder Verdeja will be going. It’s very probable that Elder Verdeja is going to the offices to work as a secretary. Anyways, I am excited because I absolutely love Cardenas; it is my favorite area thus far in the mission. Everything is good here, we are good in health and spirits. We are just trying to baptize like crazy.

Gotta go! Love y’all!

Elder SalazarghhhhH!!!

1. What sort of hand crafted items do people make in Cardenas?
------ I actually haven’t seen too many hand made things but I am always on the lookout, a lot of people make their own brooms here, eh...not too interesting. Lol.

2. How many active members are there in your branch? Are there many families in your branch?
------ We have about 4 really active families here, which is nice. As for active members we usually have between 30 and 60 in the church on Sundays, yesterday we had 35 people in church but two Sundays ago we had 57. The stake president just called and told us that if we can maintain a 60 person assistance for 3 months, he will petition the church headquarters for a chapel here, so everyone is very excited.

3. Tell us about the people you have met in Cardenas.
------ We meet a lot of people here in Cardenas. A lot of people are born and raised here in Cardenas and many are from other little towns close to here. They are good people, a lot different from people in downtown SLP or Irapuato. The people here are a lot more relaxed and open to talk about religion, even if the person is not from the same religion as them. The people here are from every type of religion you can think of, we meet people who are just normal Christians, Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and Jehovah Witnesses. It makes it interesting.

4. What do you do on p-day in Cardenas, since there are no other Elders close to you?
------ Basically nothing because there is nothing to do here, we usually wake up, study scriptures, eat something, write emails, then we take a walk through the market and go home. Not very much to do here, especially because we aren’t in downtown SLP with the rest of the zone we don’t attend district meetings so we have even more time here. I like it because our P-days here are really, really laid back, where as in other areas we are literally running to get everything done we need to get done.

5. Cousin Leah wants to know how your soccer skills are? She's on the Rancho Varsity soccer team, and ready to take you on when you get back!!
------ I’m on the Cardenas LDS Missionary team!! We are ready when you're ready. My soccer skills are greatly improved!! It’s impossible to live in Mexico and not be good at soccer =D!

2009-02-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hey ma, Hey pops,

That’s awesome you and dad were looking at Cardenas, if you want to see where we live, we live in an apartment above a tool store. The main street is called "20 De Noviembre" and it crosses a street called "La Colon". Its right next to some train tracks. There is a lawyer here in our branch and he has Google Earth and so I was showing him where we live and where Pacifica HS is, it was fun.

We had a baptism this past Saturday. We baptized a 16yr old girl named Miertha. The baptisms here are absolutely hectic. I’ll explain... Since we don’t have a church building, that means we don’t have a baptism font, but we do have a portable font. It is basically a 5ft x 5ft bath tub about 4.5ft high. We don’t hold our baptism services in the meeting house (a room above a pharmacy) because there isn’t enough room, so we hold our baptism services in the backyard of a members office building. We first have to fill the tub with hose water, but in order to have warm/hot water for the person who is going to get baptized (no one wants to be baptized in cold water) we have to light a fire under a big pot and heat the water in this way. It usually takes 4-5 hours to heat the water to a nice temperature. It’s not a lot of things to do, but it’s really stressful. We pull off our services really well though.

Other than that, our week went well. Saturday was really, really hot and today it’s basically raining, kinda weird. Our church service went really well yesterday, we were able to bring 7 people to church which makes 5 eligible to be baptized next Saturday so if all continues to go well we should have 4 maybe 5 baptisms this weekend, so pray for us. Also we had 57 people in the sacrament meeting, which is really good. If we can maintain an assistance of about 40 every week for 4-6 months the church will begin putting plans in to build a church building here.

I’m still reading Jesus the Christ, but I am also reading "The Infinite Atonement" that you and dad sent me for Christmas. I have already finished reading it but I am now taking notes on it. Sounds like all is going well over in the OC.

Anyways, not much changing here. We are coming to the end of the change here in Cardenas, it looks as if Elder Verdeja will be leaving but we will not know till the last day. Anyways, gotta run.

Tell everyone I love and miss them.

Love Ya,

Elder Salsa (my nickname) =D

1. Is there fast food in Cardenas?

------ Fast food like Carls jr, McDonalds, no. But they do make really really good tortas

(sandwiches) here in about 5 minutes for 15 pesos. Its basically our own little Fantastic Burger, we go every Monday.

2. What do the kids do for fun in Cardenas?

------ The usual, Soccer, video games, internet. There isnt very much to do here.

3. What is your living quarters like, and what does rent cost in Cardenas?

------ We rent an apartment for 800 pesos a month ($80!) It’s pretty nice. It’s tiny, tiny but perfect for a companionship of missionaries. It’s two rooms and 1 bathroom/shower. We don’t have a kitchen which is a bummer but we aren’t home much anyways.

4. What are the differences between Irapuato, and Cardenas?

------ The difference is pretty big. Irapuato has more retail stores and is a lot bigger. It has a lot more crime, cars, people, stores and basically everything. Cardenas is tiny, there aren’t very many people (we see a lot of the same people everyday). There are a lot more unpaved roads, animals (cows, horses, goats etc.), its just a tiny town. The poverty here is a lot worse, people live in conditions I never knew existed. So the difference is pretty big.

2009-02-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hey ma, and dad,

Sounds like things are going well over there in the OC. I sure do miss the beach and the smell of the ocean from the house, here in Cardenas the air is clean, cool and filled with the smell of cows, Mmm...

I enjoyed the pictures of Hodge Rd.. I was actually thinking of Hodge and all the fun we have had there. Wednesday night we traveled three hours to the City of SLP in order to attend the Zone Conference with President, and Thursday we traveled three hours back to Cardenas. I was looking at the scenery(desert) and thinking of all the good riding and shooting area’s that are hidden in the deserts of Mexico.

Things are going well here except for the fact another one of our baptisms fell through, which was kind of a bummer. This time it wasn’t for any morality problem, just the kid is 18 years old and he’s scared to go through with it because he’s scared of what his family will say/do. Anyways, not much new stuff going on here, we had just a regular week, I haven’t eaten any cow eye tacos lately, but yesterday I had a friendly encounter with chicken-feet soup, it wasn’t bad at all. LOL.

Anyways, I did get your card =D! I loved it, things are well here.

Con mucho cariño y agradecimiento

El Elder Salazar

1. What do people do for work in Cardenas?
--------There is a "mercado" here which is just a huge market, also there is a railroad here which seems to employ a lot of people. The sad thing is that Mexico depends a lot on the USA and so the railroad has layed-off a lot of people here in Cardenas due to the economic crisis.

2. Tell us about the Branch President, has he been a member very long? How long has this branch been in existance?
--------The branch president has been a member for sometime, I’m not sure exactly how long, but he is a convert and is a really great person... He has been branch president for 6 years, and the Cardenas branch has existed for a little over 16 years. The Cardenas branch has been through a lot of changes, and times where the members have been really less active, times where only 6-9 people come to church and he has always stuck through it.

3. How many missionaries are in Cardenas?
-------- TWO... Elder Salazar and Elder Verdeja (whoo!)

4. Have you come across any returned American missionaries?
--------Here in Cardenas, no, but in the city of SLP I met two, they where both here visiting. One had just left the mission about 6-7 months ago from Oakland,Ca. And one who had served here in 2004 I believe from Arizona. The one who served in 2004 was actually married to a girl he met here in the mission, they both were here visiting her family.

5. What stores are there in Cardenas?
--------Nothing!! That is the funny thing about Cardenas, this is a tiny Mexican town. The stores here are all "Mom and Pop" owned stores. I’m not exactly positive but I have heard that in order to maintain Cardenas as a small town and maintain those "mom and pop" stores, the city has been fighting off bigger retail stores for years. The biggest retail stores are an hour away in Rio Verde. Here in Cardenas we have a lot of "Farrs stationary" type stores where they sell a lot of little gifts and things that people need, and we have a lot of little liquor store type places and one bigger grocery. They even have a real sombrero store here =D. I Really love Cardenas.

A few shoutouts:
Lori and Tony Crespo, for the 40 dollars! 40 dollars there is 400 pesos here =), so it goes a loooong way. Thanks!

Lori, for entering the temple for the first time, congratulations. Gordon B. Hinckley said "There are very few places where the questions of man receive celestial answers, only in temples."

Matthew Crespo, Happy birthday brotha!! I hope you’re workin´ on those Wii skills, Ill be back!

Aunt Shelley, Uncle Leif and family! Thanks for the letters, money and picture! I put the picture up on my wall, read the letters, and spent the money(of course). Love and miss you all!

Brother Nathan, for taking the big step and getting ready to get hitched. Congrats dude.

Grammy and Grandpa Salazar, for the letters, love and support (and money). Everyone always asks me about my last name Salazar and I explain that it comes from my grandma y grandpa!

Grammy and Grandpa Hicken, for the dinero, love and support also, I have to laugh at every scanned and copied 20 dollar bill you send me, but thanks for always taking the time to write.

To everyone, thank you!

El Elder Salazar

2009-02-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Ohla mama!

This week I didnt get to teach primary because the teacher showed up =(, oh well. At least Ill be prepared for the next time. Things here are going well, except we had our baptism fall through on Saturday. Mom you’re not going to believe this, we were going to baptise a lady who is 70 years old and she didnt pass her baptism interview because she’s not living THE LAW OF CHASTITY!!!!! She’s got a boyfriend…

This week went well though, Elder Verdeja and I got a call from the assistants to president and they asked us to travel to another town an hour away called Rio Verde to meet some investigators. The town is a lot bigger than Cardenas but is very beautiful, it is basically Historic Mexico. The investigators we were going to meet is a family that was living in USA and was listening to the missionaries and were about to get baptized but a week before they were baptized they got deported back to Mexico. We went to Rio Verde to meet them but they never showed up, so we were a little disappointed with that. Anyways, things here in Cardenas are going well. Except that our house ran out of gas Sunday morning, that means...COLD SHOWERS! But today we already bought a new tank so we are back to warm showers.

Well Mom, gotta run, today we had the chance to use internet early so I don’t think dad had a chance to write me, but to make it interesting I will make up my own questions for you guys to put on the blog.

1. What is on of my biggest "likes" about the mission?
--------I like when we leave the house at 10, and the entire day seems to just go perfectly. The people are loving, they listen and they feel the spirit and by the time we realize it, its 930 and we have to go home.

2. What is one of my biggest "dislikes" about the mission?
--------When we work all week, Sunday comes and all the investigators we had ready to come to church, don’t come. That is a very frustrating let down.

3. What do I study in the morning?
--------I love to study. In the mornings I usually start out my study sessions (with a prayer of course) by reading the book of Mormon. But I usually have my study sessions dedicated to something, for example right now I am studying and taking notes on "Jesus The Christ" by James E. Talmage, this is the 2nd time I have read the book, but the first I have taken notes. I just finished reading "The Pearl of Great Price" in Spanish and taking notes in Spanish.

4. Problems with dogs?
--------I actually have had almost no problems with dogs, in fact dogs seem to follow us for some reason. I make friends with dogs, not war.

Well, gotta run,
love ya mom!

Transfer to new area. Cardenas

2009-01-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom & Dad,

This week went really well. We already had 2 baptisms. My new area is awesome; I am 3 hours away from my old area which makes a total of me being 6 hours away from Leon, Guanajuato. We had kind of a crazy experience on the way to Cardenas. We left Monday night at 9:00 pm, an hour into the trip our bus tire blows out and our bus lost power so we ended up waiting for another bus for an hour, which took us to a town called Rio Verde. We drove an hour and a half to Rio Verde, and from Rio Verde to Cardenas. We ended up getting to Cardenas at 1:30am and didn’t get to our house until 2:00 am!

My new companion is a really great guy. His name is Elder Verdeja. He has about 4-1/2 months in the mission. He’s a convert to the church and has about a year and a half as a member, he comes from the capitol of Mexico D.F. (Distrito Federal).

My new area Cardenas is AWESOME. It’s really beautiful here, it’s a tiny, tiny little town, I
would say no bigger than Bishop, CA, but more beautiful. There are rivers, hills and lots
of scenery. Also the people here are a lot more loving and receptive to the gospel. Our sacrament meeting is held in the 3rd floor of a Pharmacy building, this week we had a record breaking assistance of 57 people. Its very funny because there aren’t enough able adults (due to the amount of new converts) to run the auxiliary’s. last Sunday Elder Verdeja taught the Gospel Principles class and I was in charge of the primary. I bet you can imagine how it went... CRAZY. There are about 15 kids in the primary and I basically taught them about who Jesus Christ is and then I taught them why we should always be obedient. The kids were actually pretty good, but when I let them start to draw and write they went nuts. But it turned out really well. It looks as if I might be in charge of the primary from here on out till we find someone able to run it well enough.

Our baptisms went well, we have an outdoor baptism font and the only way we can heat the water up is by making a fire, putting water in a huge pot and boiling it, then putting it in the font. Preparing for our baptism service took from 8am in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon, 5 hours!!

Good to hear things are going well at home, I really hope the economy picks up because it is affecting a lot of people here in Mexico, but as the world keeps moving so is the gospel here in Cardenas. I gotta run.

Con mucho amor,

El Elder Salazar!

1. What is the most common thing that families feed you at appointments? (Jake Clark)
--------We seem to eat lots of different types of soups, beef soup, chicken soup, and all soups have vegetables in them.

2. Do you have a favorite hole in the wall tienda that you like to grab grub on the go? (Jake Clark)
--------I’m still figuring out where the hotspots here are in Cardenas, but in my old area we had a nifty little joint where they sold Tortas de Lomo, it’s basically a sandwich. But they cost 15 pesos, you can’t beat that!!

3. What is the most enjoyable thing about being on a mission, that makes it all worthwhile?
--------Seeing people become happier, because that makes us happy and time just seems to fly by, everyday just helping people and seeing the results.

4. Knowing what you know now, is there anything you would do differently to prepare for your mission?
--------I would have liked to know the scriptures a little bit better, and also have worked jobs more in contact with other people. Because a lot of missionary work is talking/teaching by the spirit, some elders have this gift, people are drawn to them because they speak by the spirit and the people feel something different. This is something I am working on.

5. Is it hard to gather up all your stuff and go to a new area?
--------Yeah, for me it is. Because I get worried about my investigators and saying goodbye to some of the members/converts that I really had a good relationship with, all the while worrying about packing my stuff and getting ready for a new area, for me it’s a little hectic, but its exciting.

Mucho amor de Cardenas!

2009-01-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

Hey Familia,

Things are going well here. Yesterday we were supposed to have 2 baptisms but they fell through =(. Yesterday we had stake conference and it went well, the only problem we had is that there are so many members here that we ran out of chairs and space in the stake center! They are planning on making 3 stakes here in San Luis so it’s amazing to see how much the work is progressing here.

Also yesterday I found out that I am being moved to a new area. The new area I am going to is called Cardenas, it’s in the state of San Luis Potosi, but it is another two hours from where I am right now, its a tiny, tiny little town. They don’t even have a church building. We will all be meeting in a house, so it should be interesting. There is only about 35 active members. I will now be 5 hours away from Leon, in the farthest area in the mission. I’m super excited! I already know my new companion, he is a great kid named Elder Verdeja. He only has about 4 months in the mission but he is a very great elder.

Also, today I will be sending out a package. I included some gifts, pictures and letters to some of the family so I hope you enjoy. Before sending it I am going to try to burn a cd of all my pictures and send it to you. I hope sending it won’t be too expensive.

So as I was telling you about that dog last week, we have been visiting that family lately and that dog now follows us everywhere! He walks around with us all day, even when we are in appointments he waits for us outside. He usually starts to head home when he gets distracted and we lose him but its really funny, he’s a great dog!

That was really interesting to hear about supercross and especially the Mike Carona case. I started laughing when I read his quote about god. It truly is a miracle that he isn’t going to prison, he should believe in god. I cant believe grandpa will be released when I get home! I hope they wait for me, so he can release me!! I have to run, but expect some pictures of my new area next week, love ya!

Que se cuidan mucho!

El Elder Salazar

1. Do they play the piano or organ in sacrament and primary? (mom)
--------There are very few people here who know how to play the piano here,but in my ward we do have a member who can play. In primary they usually play a CD that has the music on it.

2. Was it weird to hear all your old primary and sacrament songs being sung in Spanish when you first got on your mission?
--------Actually it is! But now Im used to hearing them in spanish, =D.

3. Are the traffic laws enforced as much there as they are here? (mom)
--------Kind of, not really. There aren’t really any laws that are strictly enforced here, but of all the police work I do see going on here, usually it’s traffic enforcement.

4. What is the wierdest thing you have had to eat while in the mission? (Jacob Clark)
--------Tacos de Ojo! We all went out to eat some tacos one time and we all tried Tacos with cow eye. It’s a taco mixed with meat and cow eye, it wasn’t very tasteful. You can still see the pupil of the eye in some tacos.

5. What is the most beneficial thing you learned from Brother Lee's mission prep class? (Jacob Clark; giving a talk on benefits of missionary prep class)
--------Great question. The most useful thing I learned in Bro. Lee´s class is as he says "Find the quickest way to the grove". No matter what the situation, what time or where you are, you can always testify that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, that he truly was chosen as a prophet in these last days. Sometimes people aren’t interested in the message, or they want to fight over doctrine but if you just testify to them about what happened in the grove they will feel the impact of your testimony, contention will leave and they will feel the spirit and recognize that you are a true representative of Jesus Christ.

2009-01-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hey mother y padre =D,

My b-day went well, we actually didn't do anything special lol...but it was nice, I just ate myself some cake and put myself to work. It was nice. Last Wednesday I received about 5 cards, 1 from gramma y grampa Salazar, 2 from gramma y grampa Hicken, 1 from aunt Shelly and family and 1 card from the Olsen family in gg6th. I know I really need to get some cards out, but it is very hard here to send mail, the banks won’t mail them for us. I plan on sending a package(s) home next Monday, when I do I promise to write letters to all of the family. I was talking to President Cox on Wednesday and they don’t even write/mail home. The only time they write/mail home is when they send packages.

Everything here is going well. Right now in the mission we have been talking a lot, about sacrificing more, basically going the extra mile. This is the last week of our change. There is a good possibility that Elder Kay or myself will be changed but we won’t know till next Sunday. Yesterday (Sunday) we baptized two daughters of one of my converts, the baptism went really well. I had my first opportunity to confer the holy ghost =D, usually we let the bishop do it but he asked me to do it this time. Yesterday a member gave us a ride to church, we got in the car and started driving and as we were driving I realized a beagle was racing us outside the car! He followed us really far! It turns out the dog belongs to the car owner and whenever they leave home he follows them running, finally when he gets tired or distracted he just heads home. They said sometimes he doesn’t come home for 1-2 days but always comes home. I had fun talking to them about Skippy and sharing all the funny stories, but then I got super trunky thinking about Skip, lol. But things are going good here, I Just got over a really bad cough so things are even better.

Well I gotta run, but I love ya! No estoy tomando el agua entonces no te precoupes!!(Im not drinking the water so dont worry!) =D

PS: Big shoutout to Grammy and Grandpa Hicken, Grandma and Grandpa Salazar, Aunt Shelly and Uncle Leif and family, And the Olsen family from GG6th ward. Thank you for your love, support and money! LOL, but honestly thank you! Love elder Salazar

1. Will President Cox be your mission president the whole time you are on your mission?
--------Yep, I go home in March 2010 and he goes home in July.

2. Your hair looked pretty good in the Christmas tree pic, are you using gel in your hair? Is it hard to get gel in Mexico?
--------Thank you, yes I am. President made a rule that we have to part our hair, I actually don’t mind it. Myself and the zone leaders are always having competitions to see who can get the nicest part. Gel is easy to get here, I use a gel called Monkey Snot. It works really well.

3. Do your American companions like the food there?
--------Yeah, almost all of us do. We have a few things we don’t like but the majority we do like.

4. How do people drive in SLP compared to New York or TJ?
--------They drive ok here, Mexico puts speed bumps EVERYWHERE. So it’s hard to drive fast or crazy because you can wreck your car. New York is definitely crazier.

5. What do you like most about SLP?
--------Downtown is really beautiful, also that we live in a big valley, so the surroundings are beautiful.

Turning 20

2009-01-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hey mom and dad,

Good to hear from ya. I enjoyed the email, sounds like things are going real well. Thats awesome everyone is doing well and the family is united. There are a TON of disfunctional families here, if they all could find just one hobby that could bring them all together things would be happier here. Thanks for the Supercross update!

Our week went well this week, we brought a family of 4 to church sunday and a girl, so we had 5 in total. If everything goes well this week we should baptize 4. Elder Kay and I have been doing really well, its weird having an american companion but its alot of fun because we both talk about the states. I have had a cough this past week which has made it hard for me to talk, Im losing my voice. Also yesterday morning I was taking a shower and elder hines lit a smoke bomb and threw it in the bathroom, it was funny but didnt really help my cough. Today we went to costco which is on the other side of SLP, but its fun. I love going to costco because they have alot of american food which is hard to find, like MICROWAVABLE CORNDOGS!! Also its fun because there are a TON of gringos(americans) shopping so I feel like im back at home.

Its hard to believe that tomorrow is my bday, its also elder hines´s bday this week, I believe the 10th, so next monday we are buying a piñata to break open. Also, the man we baptized last week bought me a bday cake! Ill put a picture in so you all can check it out.

Well I gotta run but I love you all very much, Im super blessed to be here in mexico, far from home, but have a loving family that supports.

Love ya! ADIOS!

1. Tell us about your new Companion? where does he come from, and what is he like?
--------His name is elder Kay, he is from Alpine Utah. He has 15 months in the mission and is a really good elder. His spanish is ok but he knows how to work really well, hes good with people. In high school he play basketball, polvaulted and ran track. Hes alot of fun.

2. Do you miss Elder Lopez, your last companion (does he have the same name as your companion in Irapauto?), and what area is he going to?
--------I do miss elder lopez but Im not sad because I know Ill see him again soon, we had alot of fun together. He was really really easy to live with. Elder Lopez went to Celaya as a Zone Leader. Celaya is about 55 minutes from Irapuato.

3. How many missionaries are in your new zone. How often (if ever) do you all get together for zone conference? Do some have to travel very far to meet?
--------I dont have a new zone, just a new comp. But in our zone we have about 18 missionaries. We see each other every monday because we have District meetings in the same building. There are Two zones in SLP,we see the other zone only when president comes for zone conferences.

4. Do your companions tease you because you speak with a mexican accent? Do any of the other missionaries speak like that?
--------haha, no they dont really make fun of me because elders who have a good accent usually can speak better. There are a few other american elders I know that have a very good mexican accent. My next goal is to grow a mexican mustache =D

5. How is the winter weather there like?
--------It has been hot and cold, it doesnt get very hot, but it has gotten very very cold. I saw the front of a newspaper about 3 weeks ago that said. "SLP ranks 3rd in coldest parts of mexico". So it has been quite cold. But with a good jacket and some gloves, it doesnt hurt the work.

2009-01-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Hey dad,

Loved talkin to you guys xmas! I was a little bummed that the phones were kinda crummy the 24th but the 25th made up for it. Im glad everyone enjoyed their xmas, I enjoyed mine alot it was really relaxing, which is actually kind of surprising when you're a 40 hour car ride (or hundreds of miles) from your house on xmas. I'm glad you guys didnt burn the tamales! Our new years went well last night, we spent it on the roof watching all the fireworks go off, as most probably know, mexican fireworks are ALOT more exciting than american =D! A tree down our street actually caught on fire which was very cool, but was quickly put out. To end the week in a very good way, we had a baptism on Friday of a man named Ulisses, everything went really well.

I actually have some surprising news, I have a new companion his name is Elder Kay, hes a really good guy, he has about 15 months in the mission and is from Alpine Utah. Him and Elder Lopez traded areas in the mission, I have no idea why pres changed them. Well I have to run, but I love all of you, and I thank you all for the nice words you all wrote me. Im low on time today so I dont have any pics, but Im going to burn a CD of all my pictures and send it to you with my package that way if I dont send pics you can put some on the blog.

I will now answer your questions.

1. What's the local hangout for kids? (Clint Hicken)
--------A. The street! Also, internet cafe´s. But really, all the kids play in the street.

2. Any PlayStation's or x box? (Clint Hicken)
--------A.Yeah, they also have here Playstation/Xbox Cafes, so the kids go alot there. Heres a funny story...Elder Lopez and I were knocking doors one day and a little kid answered one of the doors I knocked, I asked him If his mom or dad was home He answered: no, they are gone to work. I told the kid "Thats too bad we are giving out free Xboxs!...But we need your mom or dad to sign for it." He then shouted for his mom, thats when Elder Lopez and I kinda ran off, we had a good laugh. The little booger was lying!

3. Have you done practical jokes on your companions? (Ricky Salazar)
--------A.Great question ricardo, we do. One of the most common practical jokes we have been doing lately is spray pepper spray in the bathroom when someone is showering or using the bathroom. I dont know how many people reading this have been pepper-sprayed but I can testify that it is terrible!! You cant see and you cant stop coughing for a good 15 minutes, but it sure is funny.

4. Did the ward or stake have a Christmas program?
--------A. We did, the stake choir came 2 weeks ago and sang christmas carols, they did a really really good job.

5. What did you do for Christmas eve, and Christmas day?
--------A. Xmas eve we actually worked till 8pm, but this day alot of people invited us to eat, so we ate alot of food and played alot of UNO. Xmas day,I talked to my family, and just relaxed. Elder Lopez, Elder Dalton, Elder Hines and I all went to the local mall and walked around. To top it off we ate burger king, went home and played more uno!

Love you all, thanks for everything!

2008-12-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

Hey dad,

I gotta keep this one short and sweet because president only wants us to be on the internet 10 minutes today, but I got your email. I'm going to see if I can talk to the family (you all) christmas eve but its hard here because mexican people celebrate christmas on christmas eve, a lot of the members aren't going to be home or they will be busy so its hard for me to find a tranquilo place with a telephone, if I do find aything out I will call you with a calling card. Here's the information for Xmas day...Like I told mom Mexico has a national calling code, Im almost positive its 020 (actually 52) but if you could please find out that would be great... here's the info 020-(444)-167-1683. 020-(444)-167-1683 I'll be expecting your call at 12pm here in SLP time which should be 10am your time(OC), if You guys dont call me by 12:30 I will call moms cell phone or yours at 12:35 to see what's going on. I cant wait to talk to you guys! I have so much to tell you, a lot of details, and like I said, if I find a way to call the house xmas eve between 7 and 8 I will do it, but If I dont call, just call me xmas day.

I love and miss you guys, right now its hard for me to type because SLP is cold and I can't feel my fingers! I love and miss you, I hope to talk to you all soon.

Love benj!

2008-12-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

The weather here has been nice and sunny! Friday was day of the virgin (Día de La Virgen de Guadalupe) here and the whole city was one huge party, everyone was drinking and praying to the Virgin Mary, so it made Friday a little difficult for us to work but it was quite an experience. Things are going well here in the mission, I’m enjoying the experiences and time seems to be flying by, I’ll be talking to you guys really soon by telephone, I still don’t know the details on how or were but I’m sure they will tell us.

I saw the pics dad sent me and the video, from the pictures and the video it looks like the party was HUGE! It looks like it was really fun though. I’m super excited for Nate and Jen. It looks like Nathans party went really, really well. That’s awesome that Jen said yes. I watched the video and everything, Jen looks like she was in total shock! I was thinking of Nathan Friday night, I told my companion that Nate was going to propose and he asked me "to Erica?" I thought that was pretty funny.

Today for our p-day we are heading out to buy a xmas tree for the house, they are super cheap about 200 pesos(20$) so we are all putting in 50 pesos. We had our zone conference with president, his ward back home sent us (missionaries) a bunch of donated ties, so president gave us a little booklet with pictures of every missionary in the mission and a tie, it was pretty nice. We all ate pizza in the conference.

Its funny you mention the holidays, reality hasn’t even hit me yet that I have been away from home 9 months and I won’t be home for Christmas, Lol. As for the Christmas call, I will definitely have more info about where and when next week so you will be informed. Well, I gotta run, we are heading out to buy our xmas tree! whooooo!!!!

Love benj

I have to run but I will now answer your questions...

1. Benj, Do you miss riding your dirt bike? Brrrp BBrrp (Chris Holmes)
--------Great question Chris, I do!! I sometimes find my self walking faster than my companion and cutting in front of him while making the sound Brrppp!! and he just laughs.

2. What do you miss most about being away from home, besides Sasha? (Clint Hicken)
--------Besides Sasha, I would say a Washer and a Dryer. I was explaining to my companion that a Clothes dryer is a miracle. You put your clothes in wet and wrinkled and they come out dry, wrinkless and they smell great. Washing and drying clothes here has been a real headace here, we have to do almost all our cleaning by hand. There are some places here where you can pay to have them wash and dry your clothes but it’s real expensive and of course we cant take our garments there.

3. Are there any tourist attractions in your new city? What kind of amusement and entertainment is there? (Ricky Salazar)
--------I still don’t know too much about downtown SLP, but I know they have a live Theatre where they act out Mexican history. There is a casino here, and some museums. SLP is actually really big, it’s comparable to Leon in size. Today we are heading downtown so I will try to snap some photos and find out what’s cool down here.

4. What's your favorite authentic Mexican dish/food so far? (Ricky Salazar)
--------My favorite thing to eat here I would say would be the good ol` carnitas tacos. I also really like some of the fish they make here, called Mojarra and they fry it but its different from what I remember in CA. Also they have a style of Quesadillas here called "Gringas" it is a quesadilla but with fruits, chillis and meat inside, they are really, really good.

5. Do your American companions and President Cox speak the language well?
--------As for American comps, some do and some don’t. I would say there are more Americans that speak bad Spanish than good. As for Pres. he speaks really well, he served his mission in Peru and he really has the language down. I have also heard the area 70`s speak Spanish (both of them are American) and they sound like they have been speaking Spanish their whole lives, they speak really well.

Thanks for the questions!

Editors Note: Please take the time to wish Benjamin a Merry Christmas on the comments page.

2008-12-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom, and Dad,

It’s really good to hear from ya this week.That’s too bad about Elder Wirthlin, an elder called us the other day and told us he had heard Elder Wirthlin died but I didn’t know for sure till I had read your email,

Things are going well here, we baptized two people last week and the baptisms went really well. Sunday was the last day of our transfer and President wants Elder Lopez and I to stay another change here, so that means another 6 weeks here, which includes Christmas and my b-day. But I’m happy, i’m enjoying SLP and Elder Lopez, we get along great, and we are working hard and we are teaching lots of people right now. Elder Ditto is heading to Leon tomorrow, so he is very excited.

In the mission we didn’t do anything special for Thanksgiving but in our ward we have a return missionary who served in Illinois and speaks english really well. She experience thanksgiving for the first time and loved it, so for Thanksgiving she invited us to her house to celebrate it. She didn’t make turkey but she had really nice chicken. She made mashed potatoes (which I haven’t had since the MTC), gravy, corn, green beans. It was really special for me at least because I saw the hard work she had put into it, to make it feel American and I really thanked her. Her mom ate with us and was telling me how boring American food is because there is nothing spicey, I thought she was pretty funny.

I don’t think I told you but the last week of November our rent contract ended and the owners don’t want to renew the contract with us, so we had to find a new house. We found another house a little bit bigger which is nice and today we moved everything into it, so today is a little bit hectic, but things are going well here. The people are getting more and more Catholic as Christmas gets closer. The 12th is day of the virgin and people here go really crazy. Well I gotta run because we gotta get back to the house and get ready, but I love and miss you guys like crazy. I got the other little package you guys sent. I laughed at Nathans picture, the elders say it looks like me, lol.

Love ya!

1. Are there any Americans in your ward/area?

------- No, I havent spoken with any americans(other than my companions) since I left irapuato.

2. Do many Mexicans speak English where you are now?

-------- There is one I know of, she is really nice her name is Katherina, she served a mission in Illinois and returned about 6 months ago, she speaks very well.

3. What kind of industry or work is there in your area?

-------- In my area there is a big building called "El Rastro". Its where they kill cows and pigs all day, everyday. Im not sure how they kill them, but it smells really really bad and sometimes we hear the pigs`final cry just before they die. There is a huge meat market in our area so I would say that is the big industry here. Everytime my comp and I walk by I tell him "Elder lets ask for a tour! I wanna see!" we see hundreds of cows and pigs heading in by the truckload and we know they arent coming out alive.

4. How may wards are in the stake you are in? What is the stake called?

--------In my stake there are 8 wards, and our stake is called Benito Juarez Stake. We cover one half of San Luis Potosi, there is another stake in the other half but Im not sure how many wards are there.

5. Are people there decorating for Christmas? (moms question)

--------YES, everyone has trees and lights, since they obviously dont celebrate Thanksgiving here people go from halloween straight to christmas, from what I have seen, Mexicans loooove Christmas.

2008-12-02T06:27:00.001-08:00

Dad,

Please read this to the family at the thanksgiving dinner, its my "What I’m grateful for list"...

I am grateful first off for a family and loving parents, who has filled their home with gospel principles based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Whom has always influenced me to be the best I can be and never settle for anything less,always go the extra mile.

I am grateful for my brother Ricky and sister in law Sara because they teach me to work hard and always stand up for what is right, and stand up for yourself.

I am grateful for Justin, who by his example teaches me to work hard. I always think of how Justin would have been as a missionary, I know he would have baptized 100´s just by how hard he works.

I am grateful for Nathan, who shows me how to be patient and thoughtful. As missionaries here we get rejected everyday, we get shouted at and cursed at, and I am grateful to have been taught patience.

I am grateful for Grammy and Grampa Hicken, and Gramma and Grampa Salazar and the many positive examples they have set for me.

I'm grateful for all that I have. I am grateful for my knowledge of the restored gospel. For the book of Mormon, and the Bible. I know that heavenly father speaks to us through prayer and these books. I am grateful to know that my family is eternal, I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, he really did see god and Jesus Christ, he heard their voices and kneeled in their presence....

Last but not least I am grateful for Sasha the cat, whom when I am bored I can always bother and rough up.

Love benj...

2008-11-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hey mom and pops,

Mom: I got your packages!! I opened the card, you guys put a TON of stuff in there. Dont worry I am going to wait till xmas to open it up. My other comps also go their packages but we are all going to wait till xmas. Things are going really good here. I gotta keep this one short but know that I love and miss you. I hope you all have a great thanksgiving, and a HAPPY BDAY!!

Thats good to hear the fires are all out, it sounds like they were pretty bad. It has been FREEZING here, even in the day when the sun is out. I have been wearing two jackets and even bought a pair of gloves. Sorry the pictures didn’t get through last week, I don’t know what happened. I forgot my camera today but next week I will have some, we have 4 baptisms planned so I will have some good ones. Thanks for checking out my bank statement, I’m going to try to do what you said. At the beginning of the month we get 1000 pesos ($100) and the first thing I do is go to the grocery store, and I usually have about 700 pesos left over for the month and I budget it daily. Although, sometimes we have to buy gas to heat the water and cook which is 300 pesos, and my companion loves to go to Carls Jr. so that doesn’t help us, lol.

I had my interview with President Cox, it was great as usual, he tells me he is preparing me for the future. He says I will be a bishop someday, I usually just laugh.

Things have been kind of tough here lately, we are having a hard time finding new people to teach. The missionaries who have experience in the mission tell me that the farther we get into December the more Catholic traditions there are and the people are even harder because they focus on worshipping the Virgin Mary. The other day we were knocking doors and an older man let us in, we entered his house and sat down. As we were sitting down about to start teaching, his wife came out and demanded that we leave because they are Catholics, that we are a false church because we don’t believe in the virgin and she basically threw us out into the night in the freezing cold. It was kinda rough but that’s how some people are...

Well I gotta run, but everything has been going really well, I am having a lot of fun here with my comp and being in this area. I can’t believe how much time has gone by and how fast. I will answer your questions...

Love Elder Benj

1. What are the ward members like?
--------They are really good people and pretty strong in the faith, our ward here compared to others is huge, we have about 170 people that come to church,they are going to divide the ward soon.

2. Are you getting fed regularly by the ward, and how often?
--------Yeah we get fed everyday by members at 2:30 pm, except sometimes they forget, thats when we go get Carls Jr!

3. How is your apartment?
--------Its a pretty nice house, we keep it pretty clean, we have two rooms to study and we all sleep in one big room.

4. Do you guys do any cooking?
--------A little bit, only in the morning. We have a microwave which is nice, but im not too sure if putting something in the microwave counts as cooking, lol...I dont think so.

5. Tell us about your companion, and the Zone Leaders.
--------The zone leaders are Elder Dalton from Saint George utah, he has 20 months in the mission so he goes home very soon. Elder Hines is from Gainsville florida and he has about 16 months in the mission. Elder Hine’s mom and grandparents are actually peruvian. His grandparents actually live in Lima Peru. Before the mission he learned to speak a little bit of Spanish. They are both good guys, except when they eat my food!! Elder Lopez is from Tijuana he is a district leader here, he is learning to speak English and its coming along well. His Dad was just released as stake president there. He is the oldest of 3 boys. He’s a really great kid with a good personality, everyone we come into contact with really likes him. He is a lot of fun because when he was living at home he used to go to San Diego a lot and he likes to skateboard so we have a few things in common. Everyone in the house here is a lot of fun.

2008-11-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, those fires look extremely close! I bet its really affecting people in Southern California, I actually caught a glimpse of a few of the fires in LA County. I saw the pictures of the fires you sent, that’s incredible... I didn’t realize the severity. California really needs to come up a with a fire prevention/response program that actually works. Keep the windows closed!

This week went well. We had baptisms for 2 young girls scheduled, but both fell through so we were a little bummed about that. I have come to kind of a hard realization. Many people here promise us they will come to church and then they come up with an excuse to not come to church so it has been a little frustrating.

Are you already listening to Christmas music?? We are!! hahaha, my companion put on Christmas music the other day and I was explaining to him that my mom listens to Christmas music from the 15th of October to the 6th of January.

Everything is going well here, President comes to interview us next Saturday so I think he will have my packages!

Love ya mom!

El Missionero de la mejor mama!
Con amor, El Elder Salazar

1. How are the Zone leaders to live with. Tell us about them.

--------They are a lot of fun, they are obedient but really fun to be around. We are always playing jokes.

2. What do the Zone Leaders do during the day?

--------They work, They do the same things as all other missionaries, only they are responsible for a few extra things like re-imbursements, handling problems with other missionaries and doing baptism interviews.

3. Besides Costco, what other shopping stores are there in San Luis Potosi?

--------There is a ton here, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, just about everything =D

4. How strong is the YM/YW programs?

--------In this ward they are very strong, they are always having activities, which is awesome because it keeps the members happy and coming along with the young kids.

5. Do the Missionaries go on splits with the ward members?

--------Yeah, every now and then. Usually we go with the kids that are preparing to go on missions, but we haven’t gone on any lately.

2008-11-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hey mama y papa, y familia, y amigos,

We had a baptism yesterday of a lady named Luz (its pronounced like LOSE) and we have her daughter scheduled for next Saturday. We are teaching two families right now that look like they will be baptized very soon.

My comp is doing well, we are working hard. Sorry about not sending pics last week. I promise next week I will have some more, I tried uploading some today but the comp here keeps freezing, its hard to find a computer here that actually works well. There is always something wrong, a key broke, a mouse that doesn’t work, a usb port that doesn’t exist, but that’s when you realize that you’re in Mexico. Things here have been going really good, we had kind of a crazy experience the other night, my comp and I were walking home at about 9pm when we stopped to talk to a man who called our attention, we were in a part of town that is a little bit more dangerous than others, as my comp was talking to the man, I notice on the 4th floor of an apartment complex a gangster was whistling really loud, I looked around but I saw nobody. I was really staying aware of my surroundings because its very dangerous at night, when all of a sudden two police trucks drive by with people in the back, they shined the light at the apartment building apparently looking for someone but the gangster hid himself very quickly, the police sped off and as they turned the corner about 6-7 other gangsters came out from hiding and took off running! It turns out the police were looking for these people, they were hiding the whole time and we didn’t even know it! But we made it to our house safely.

I’m very happy being here, our living conditions here in San Luis Potosi (po – toe - see) are really nice, I live in a house with 3 other missionaries which makes it really fun. We are all pretty clean (except my companion!). You should see how they manage their trash here in SLP, every day a horse pulling a cart passes and that is basically the trash truck.

This Sunday they are going to Re-dedicate the Mexico City, Mexico temple so we are excited to be able to see the broadcast in our stake center.

Well I gotta run, we’re headed to Costco! Love ya, thanks for all the love and support! Tell all the family I love and miss them, especially Nate, Justin and Ricky and Sara.

Love Elder Salazar

1. How's your new ward, is it more active than your last ward?
---------Yeah, It’s a lot more active. My ward in Irapuato had a count of between 80-110 and my new ward has an assistance 110-150, its really cool. We have 4 missionaries in this ward.

2. Tell us about your new Bishop.
--------He’s pretty young, about 30 years old. I don’t know him too well but he seems to be pretty good and means well. He served a mission in Monterrey Mexico.

3. Is bike riding allowed in your new area?--------No, ever since that missionary fell in Irapuato, the whole mission hasn’t been authorized to have bikes. But I would LOVE to have a bike because our area is pretty big.

4. Do the zone leaders have a car?
--------No, the only missionaries that are authorized to use a car is the president and his wife, and the assistants to the president because they sometimes have to take missionaries to the airport and things like that.

5. Any baptisms coming up?
--------Yeah we have a few. We have 10 scheduled for next Saturday.

6. Last week you said Elder Ditto only had 1 baptism, why so few baptisms?
--------Its hard to say, he hasn’t had much luck and he’s still learning to work here. The Mexico, Leon Mission is a little tough because in Guanajuato the Catholic church is really really big, so the people here are really, really closed minded. It’s not impossible to baptize, but our mission isn’t like Tijuana or Mexico City, where they baptize a ton in those missions. I’m really blessed to be here because they only send the strongest missionaries here.

Transfer to San Luis Potosi (SLP) and new Comp.

2008-11-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hola mama y’ padre y' Familia,

I loved the pics of the Halloween party. That was a cool idea to hand every one the little sign, (Happy Halloween Benjamin) hahaha. I loved the pics of Kyle Brodowski and Grammy, and I even printed the pic of Leah and I’m going to post it up where we study. The party looks like it was a blast, that’s awesome. Our Halloween here was pretty cool, we bought some pizza and had
some fun in the house.

I have seen the blog, it looks great! I read all the comments but for some reason the blog always runs slow on the computers here in Mexico so I don’t post back, but I read them all!

I’ll tell you about San Luis Potosi (SLP) a little bit...

It turns out that I’m not with an American companion, I’m with a Mexican comp from Tijuana named Elder Lopez, he’s an awesome kid with 15 months in the mission. He’s a district leader so that means we are working hard here. My new area and comp are awesome. Except a block down the street is a big Pig/Cow slaughtering plant so it kinda smells, but it’s a very nice area. Also, my comp from the MTC, Elder Ditto is in my Zone! He’s had quite a tough time, he’s only baptized 1 person since we’ve been in Mexico and I think it’s due to crummy companions, but now he is with a very good one, so he is happy, and he’s doing very well. It was so great to see him again, he lives in my zone. He was so happy to see me. We live just outside of downtown SLP which is HUGE, I think it’s bigger than Leon but it’s awesome because there is a lot of stuff here. We have a Costco here. My comp has a Costco card so he can get me in, but he says with his plan I can buy a Costco card for 100 pesos (10 bucks) and it will still be good by the time I get home, so I am thinking of buying one.Our house here is pretty nice. Elder Lopez and I live with the Zone leaders which makes being in the house a lot of fun, we are all like brothers here, the zone leaders are both American. One is from Utah and the other from Florida. Poor elder Lopez has to put up with a lot of English in the house, but he actually can speak quite a bit. Our area is A LOT calmer, there aren’t as many cholos in my area which makes it nice. It’s actually kinda funny because there is alot of construction going on in my area, they are building new houses and stores, so there are parts of my area that look like Tustin/Irvine, everyone drives nice cars and the houses are all new. It’s kinda nice.

Well I’m gonna answer your questions now because we are headed to Carls Jr. for lunch. Whoo hoo! hahaha, well I hope you liked my pictures last week, I sure enjoyed the ones you sent from Halloween.

Thanks a lot mom for all you do! It helps so much to have a strong family to back me up. Well I gotta run! Things here are going good, I’m not drinking the water =D!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Salazar!!!

1. How was the trip to SLP? --------3.5 hours long but great.

2. What day did you travel? --------On Tuesday

3. Did you travel by bus? -------Yep

4. Did you get to spend any time in the mission home?
--------No, I arrived at the central of autobusses in the city of Leon about 10am, I saw President and Sister cox as well as a few other friends in the mission and at about 10:45 we took another bus to SLP.

5. How do you like your new companion, Elder Call?
--------I’m actually with Elder Lopez, he’s awesome!

6. Where's he from, what's he like?
---------He’s from Tijuana and he’s a really good guy, living in Tijuana he can cross over to the US whenever he wants, so he knows quite a bit of English and a lot about San Diego.

7. How's your new apartment?
--------Its a house with 4 of us living in it, its a little small but fun!

8. How does SLP compare to Irapauto?
--------I love it, there are parts of SLP even more dangerous than Irapuato but SLP is more beautiful and , its really green here. A LOT bigger. I love it.

2008-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom, Dad, and family,

That’s too bad to hear that Bro. Johansen passed away, he was always a really nice man, I will always remember him getting up and giving his testimony.

We went and climbed a pretty big hill today, it was super windy but a lot of fun! Everything has been good here, the weather has been really nice, but it’s starting to really cool down here.

Things here are going good, I’m gonna fill you in with all the news...

First off, our 6 week transfer ended and President is sending me to San Luis Potosi (SLP)which is a 6 hour bus ride from Irapuato. I first have to travel one hour from Irapuato to Leon, then 5 hours by bus from Leon to SLP. I’m really excited, I hear that SLP is very beautiful and very calm (as in there are no gangsters). My companion in SLP will be another American named Elder Call, he has only one transfer (6 weeks) more than me here in the mission but he doesn’t speak Spanish that well, so I think we are in for an adventure. I’m a little sad because I will be leaving my first area here and some people I have really come to know and love.

This past Saturday we had two baptisms, one was of the man that found us in the street and asked us to come by his house. His name is Jose Luis. We are really excited and proud for him. He has been sober from alcohol for almost two months and is a really good person. He is a father of 4 children and two great grandchildren, he is having some really hard financial trouble right now so we are helping him look for work. The other was a daughter of one of our converts, her name is Carla Itzel. She’s a really good girl, always smiling. The baptisms went really great, on time and everything! Our Zone actually will be ending this transfer with about 27 baptisms so we are excited because we broke the record!

Well I’m going to leave you with some pictures, some from the baptism, some from our p-day last week and today. I hope you enjoy the one of my new tactical shotgun =D and one of me scoring a goal!

Enjoy!

El Elder Salazar

2008-10-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

Sounds like things are going well at home and everything’s in the normal. That’s awesome that Brad (Campbell) is home (from his mission), I wonder how he feels? I bet I will feel the same =D. Everything is going well here, In fact we have two baptism scheduled for this Saturday, so pray that they don’t fall through! I haven’t been sick at all. As for medicine, Sister Cox gave every companionship in the mission a big bag of Tylenol. I took some pictures today from our pday but the USB port on this computer is broken so it will have to wait till next week =(. Love ya bye!

We are really short on time today but I will answer your questions.

1. What do you do for drinking water?
--------Every month we recieve 50 pesos to buy a "Garrafon" which is the big bottles of pure water, that’s what we use to drink. But I usually buy 2 liters of Fanta or Sprite =D.

2. What kind of cars do people drive.
--------We see all types here, but for the most part I‘d just say old beat down Fords.

3. What do you do for fun on your p-day?
--------We clean the house, sometimes we go to a mall here, sometimes downtown, today we played soccer.

4. Do you see the effect of the influence you and the American Missionaries have in your ward?
--------In this ward we do, the people really love the American missionaries here so its nice to be received with open arms.

2008-10-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hey mama! Hola padre,

This week went well, we had 6 investigators come to church Sunday which was good because we have been having a really hard time getting people to come to church. The weather here has been really nice, except Saturday it rained really hard and we came home soaking wet, but that’s part of the missionary life. Dad sent me some pictures of Justin’s birthday, it looks like it was really fun. I wrote mom that sometimes when I am walking in the street I think about what everyone is doing back at home and It makes me laugh sometimes, to know that we are doing things so opposite, I’m working in Mexico speaking a different language and you guys are partying, =D. Things are going good here, we haven’t had any problems here which has been nice.

Well I gotta run but I will answer your questions.

Con amor, El Elder Salazar

1. How are Elder Callen and the other American missionaries adjusting to Mexico?
-------- They are all doing pretty well, Elder Callen has been sick for almost 3 months so he is having a hard time figuring out what to do. Other than that he is doing well, his Spanish is improving. There are 2 other American elders, and they both are having a really hard time with the language but it just comes with time.

2. How are things with your new companion?
-------- They are getting better. We have found a lot of people to teach this past week.

3. What do you like most about Mexico?
-------- Everything is cheap!!!

4. Do you get much help from the members and Ward Mission Leader?
-------- The problem we are having with the ward is getting steady consistent help from them. Our ward mission leader helps only when he wants to, which is kind of a bummer especially because he served in the Tijuana mission in 2006 and was even a zone leader. But we are working with them and they are definitely improving.

2008-10-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hola mama & pops, family, and friends,

I really enjoyed conference. At this point in my mission it was a big help to me. Especially the priesthood session. I really enjoyed Pres. Eyring’s talk, I felt like he was speaking directly to me because he has a type of spirit and a type of speech that reminded me of grampa Hicken, most of all though, he speaks by the spirit. I also enjoyed watching the choir because it reminded me of when Elder Ditto and I used to go sing in the MTC choir every Sunday. The same guy who was directing the choir in conference used to direct us in the MTC so it was fun seeing him on tv.

As for conference, all missionaries (and almost all members) went to the stake center. It was really fun because they had a separate room where myself, the other American missionaries and other’s could watch in english. There are a couple of BYU students here who are studying abroad for three months so I had fun talking to them, one of them served his mission in Long Beach so we had fun talking. I don’t know if I told you, but one of my friends (Elder Callen) from the MTC is serving here in the same ward as me. Everything here is going well, we are eating good and everything.

Thanks for always writing me and keeping the blog updated, it looks really good! I can’t believe the hits we’re getting.

Well I have to run. I hope all is going well at home, love and miss ya!

Love, Elder Salazar

1. Where did you watch conference? Does it get broadcast in english?

2. How many people are in your ward, Primary, YM/YW?
--------One of our assignments is to count attendance in sacrament meeting, and every week I count between 75 to 110 active members in church. But in our ward directory I would say we have about 200 members.

3. How many wards are in your Stake?
--------I believe there are 4 and one branch that participates with us

4. Are the people of Irapuato friendly to you?
--------Yes and no, people like to make stupid comments. It could be worse.

5. Was McDonalds there as good as at home, and was the menu the same?
--------Yeah I would say it was the same. The menu was the same, it’s just weird because when you see the menu everything is priced in pesos. I’m still used to seeing things in dollars, so a number 2 which is 2 cheeseburgers costs 58 pesos, ($5.18) but at first you think 58 dollars, wow! It was funny, because I’m pretty sure every Mexican Elder that ate McDonalds that day got sick and all the Americans did just fine, hahaha!

2008-09-29T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

The weather here has been really, really nice, sunny but cool. Things here are going as we say ¨mas o menos¨ which is more or less. We are having a really tough time finding people to teach. On Saturday we knocked doors for 6 hours and didn’t teach 1 lesson. I said a prayer in the street that heavenly father would put at least one person or family in our path that was ready to hear the message of the restoration. We worked throughout the day visiting members and less actives. As we ended the day we were walking home tired and a little discouraged. As we passed a gas station a man approached us and asked if we were elders, we told him that we were, he then asked us if we could visit him and his sons at his home and share with him our message because he has heard of our church years ago and likes it, also that he wants his kids to grow up correctly. I knew from the moment he called to us that heavenly father had heard my prayer and he answered it directly. I’m so grateful to have the knowledge of the plan of salvation and to be bringing this message to the people of Mexico!

On Wednesday we had a big problem which resulted in a huge fight between me and my companion. Here’s what happened...
My area is filled with gangsters whom like to say insults to us in the street. Our usual routine is to not say anything or provoke them, just let them pass. Well my new companion seems to think he’s pretty tough. The other day we were looking for a street in a certain area that’s not too pretty. 6 gangsters passed by us on motorcycles, they said things to us but we just let them pass, about 10 minutes later they passed by us again and said something, this time my companion stares at them, raises his hands and says things back to them like HE wants to fight. 4 of them got off the motorcycles, pulled out machetes and knives and ran towards us. My comp and I stayed where we were. We had our backs to an Internet cafe, I turned around and told the owner to call the police. The gangsters ran up to us and threatened to kill us, they told us that they were part of a certain gang and told us to watch out. After that they got on the motorcycles and took off. Afterwards I was extremely furious because had my comp not said anything, we wouldn’t have had a problem. But because he had to open his mouth he almost got us both killed, I really laid into him afterwards and I think he felt bad. I told our zone leaders what he had said and did, and I think they laid into him too. Other than that things are going ok here.

This Sunday two lady’s from California came here on vacation and they don’t speak Spanish (one of them has a husband that speaks) and I was talking to them in english, it was so hard!! I couldn’t speak my sentences without speaking some words in spanish, we were all laughing because I had to tell them forgive me for speaking so slow and badly. I realized that I think in spanish now!

Today we went to a really nice mall, they had a deal going on there, you can buy 3 suits for 200 dollars(2000 pesos) and they are really nice suits, but my suits are still in good condition so I’m going to wait till they wear out. I’m really happy with my new shoes, they are awesome. Things here are SO cheap.

Love ya mama, gracias por todo!! El hijo de la mejor madre,

Love El Elder Salazar

1. What do the kids in the area do for fun? Do they ride bikes, baseball, soccer?
--------Yeah they ride a lot bikes, and play a lot of soccer. I haven’t seen any baseball and a little bit of basketball.

2. What do the adults do for fun? Are there movie theaters.
--------There are two malls here and two movie theatres. Also, Leon isn’t too far away so a lot of times they go there to shop and hang out.

3. Does the Ward have a scout program?
--------No, scouting doesn’t exist here. When I told some members I was an Eagle Scout they had no idea what it was, ahahah.

4. What does the YM/YW do for activities?
--------This is a problem that our ward has, they don’t have any activities. Right now we are working with the bishop to establish activities.

5. Does anybody play guitar?
--------I don’t personally know anybody. There is an old man that sits in the street ALL day, he makes guitars by hand. He always waves to us but I haven’t had the chance to ask him about them.

2008-09-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hey dad,

The computers here are going reeeallly slow. Im sorry, I promised pics this week but the comps here aren’t working and we have to take off. But I promise next week...Also if you could let grandma and grandpa Salazar know I got their card this week, I will write them next week for sure. Also, please tell mom to tell grammy and grandpa Hicken that I will be writing them next week also. Tell all the family I said Hello and that I love them... thanks dad. Love Elder Salazar

Hey Dad, This Email is for you and mom....

We had changes this week, Elder Velez took off to another city, kind of like Irapuato, called Cortazar which isn’t to far. I received Elder Raya, who is from Mexicali. He transfered from Aguascalientes. He has a year in the mission field but doesn’t act or work like it. This week has been kinda rough. He is senior comp, but he doesn’t like to work which has been kinda tough for me since I have promised myself to be as obedient as I can and always work. So I have been a little down this week learning to work with someone different. Yesterday (Sunday) we had interviews with the president and he told me some things that have really helped me out, so I’m trying to love and serve him the best I can, and I am moving forward!!

As for success right now, we are knocking a lot of doors. We challenged 5 people to baptism. 2 of those that we are teaching are very young and have one child. Their names are Jose and Maria. Jose is 17 and Maria is 19, they already have a one year old son and another baby on the way, we are trying to help them out with everything, they have close to nothing.

Last Monday I bought new shoes, they are really nice, I like them better than my Rockports. They were 500 pesos(50 bucks!). They are called Flexi´s, I have a friend here in my zone and he has had his Flexi´s for over a year and they are still in good condition, so I am happy. My other shoes developed a hole on the bottom and every time I step in water or it rains my foot gets soaked, so I decided to buy new ones. Well I will answer the other questions now, that I haven’t already answered.

Love ya, thanks for everything!

4. Is there anybody in your ward that speaks English, do you miss it?
........Yes, 2 people. I don’t miss English too much, although I have a new elder in my area that is American and we speak in English, it has been really weird! I have forgotten a few words, like translate. Sometimes when I speak in English I say words in Spanish, its been really weird... Also there are a lot of kids in my ward that are studying English so they ask me questions and I always try to help them learn and understand.

5. Is there any food from back home that you especially miss?
........Not really because we almost always ate mexican food at home! Although I was thinking of a 9 inch Togos roast beef the other day, with mayo, pepperchini, pickles, lettuce, and I was getting all worked up thinking about it...

6. Do you ever get homesick?
........Nope, sometimes I take a look at my photo books and it brings back good memories. Also reading emails every Monday helps me out a lot.

1. How's your new companion? How long has he been out?
2. Where's he from. Does he speak English?
3. Any baptisms coming up.
4. Is there anybody in your ward that speaks English, do you miss it?
5. Is there any food from back home that you especially miss?
6. Do you ever get homesick?

2008-09-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Hola familia,

Our transfer ended this week, Elder Velez will be leaving. I will be in Irapuato another 6 weeks, ayecaraye! Tanto tiempo que no? I receive my new companion tomorrow. Things here are going good though, we are having quite a hard time finding people who are prepared to hear the gospel. We teach alot of lessons but people wont keep their commitments and come to church. But President taught me that "Its not the area, its not the people and its not the message...its the messenger." So I'm trying to find better ways to serve the people here, to understand what they need and are looking for specifically in their lives. Well I'm sorry I have been lacking on the photos and messages. But I promise more next week, today is our last day of the transfer and we are going to McDonalds to celebrate, whoo!! Love Elder Salazar

2008-09-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

Enjoyed the pics! The other night my comp and I were heading home, we were passing through the field we always go through when I heard some really quiet "meows", I hopped over some barbed wire and found a bag of 3 baby kittens, someone had abandoned them. We took them back to the house and tried to feed them a little milk but they were so new their eyes weren’t open and they didn’t know how to drink, so we wrapped them in a t-shirt and left them in the field. The next morning one had died but two were still alive, that night all three were gone, so who knows... Actually as we were on our way here to the internet cafe we found two little puppys in the field so my companion and I are debating on bringing one to the house. But yeah things are good here, the weather has been really nice. All the kids here are back in school. School here has two sessions, morning and afternoon so it seems like there are always kids in street. Mom, there are a ton of rats here, also there are a ton of Scorpions =/! there is a family in the other ward in our building from California, they are the only white people! The husband is here working for a little while, his wife is president of primary and they have two little kids, I have yet to talk to them. But Imagine being primary president of children who speak another language! My shoes are holding up, they are slowly wearing away but they are doing good, they are waterproof and very comfortable. If I need shoes I can buy them here, Leon is famous for making and exporting shoes. My comp bought some really, really nice new shoes for 500 pesos, only 50 bucks! Before I come home I’m gonna buy a ton of shoes.

Well I gotta run, thanks for the Email, I look forward to next week. Love ya!

1. Do people hassle you because you are missionaries?

A. No, most people are just curious and ask us questions, mainly why we’re called "Elder" and why we don’t worship the Virgin Mary.

2. How do the gangsters on the street treat you guys?

A. They make stupid remarks all the time, it drives us nuts. There are a ton of young kids who think they are gangsters and they like to say stuff or try to talk in English. Sometimes they say cuss words in english but even they don’t understand them. We are really familiar with where the cholos hang out so we stay away from their areas.

3. Who was the tall Elder in the picture taken in Abasolo?

A. The tall Elder is Elder Trejo, he’s from Chiuahua Mexico. He has about 3 months in the mission. In our ward there are 4 Elders, Elder Velez, myself, Elder Garcia and Elder Trejo. All four of us are working in Abasolo 2 days a week so we have been working a lot together.

2008-09-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hola familial y’ amigos!

First off thank you for all the love and support., and know that I’m thinking of you all. This week went well. This past Friday we went to a little town called Abasolo, it’s about a 30 minute bus ride out of our usual area. It’s really beautiful, we are trying to establish a branch there because there are quite a few members but none of them have cars so it makes it difficult for them to travel all the way into town to attend sacrament. So we are trying to bring the church to them, we will we be working in Abasolo (if our schedule permits) 2 days a week, Wednesday and Saturday. We went this past Friday and visited some of the members, we also visited a very very sick gentleman named Francisco, he was very loving and kind. Francisco has been bedridden for over twenty years and is still trying to figure out why heavenly father has dealt him this type of card, so we are going to try to visit him along with a member who takes really good care of him.

I had my first dog attack this Sunday...We were walking through our neighborhood on our way to church in the morning. We passed an older lady and her black lab, the dog saw us and didn’t bark, didn’t growl, nothing. As we kept walking all of a sudden something hit my legs from behind, it was the dog! He tried to bite me but couldn’t get a good bite, I took out my pepper spray and sprayed him, but he backed up out of range, I then threatened him with a large rock but he persisted!! I Lunged at him and scared him, he ran back to his home. What made me mad is that he attacked me for nothing, even worse; the old lady said nothing the WHOLE time!!! We are trying to work hard here, the members are strong but we know they can be stronger. We are working to help them get a temple here in Leon, I hope all is well at home. Remember to always include the less fortunate in your prayers, there are a lot. ------Love Elder Salazar

Hey mom,

The field in Irapuato is kinda tough right now but we are starting to open up a new area called Abasolo. It’s a tiny little town, you can think of it like Bishop. Mom, let me know who wins the election. Sounds like everything is good in The OC and with the family. Everything here is going good, And I got your package, thank you!!! I really really loved it, all the missionaries were jealous. ------Love Elderito Salazar

Hola padre,

Todo esta muy bien, aunque nosotros habiamos bañando en agua frio!! Ayecaraye!! (Translation; Everything is good, although we are bathing in cold water”)

I got your package this past Thursday, thanks a lot! I love everything inside.

I will answer your questions ahora.
---- Love ya!

1. Are there homeless and beggars in Irapuato?
1A. Yes there are a ton, but they are a lot more friendly than the gangsters we deal with on a daily basis. The other night we were walking home and there was a drunk in the street as we passed him he said to us "You guys didn’t leave in the Airplane either??" My compañion didnt say anything but I responded to him "No we couldnt make it!" as we kept walking he said "well its alright, lets go in taxi, I´ll pay!" we were laughing all the way home. It was really funny. That same day in the afternoon we saw a drunk sleeping on the sidewalk, we came back a few hours later and he was juggling a piece of fruit and trash in the street and asking cars stopped at a red light for money. My comp and I were laughing really hard because juggling two things is easy!

2. What are the grocery stores like?
2B. There are a ton of little liquor stores that carry just about everything we need, but when we receive our monthly allowance of 1000 pesos, we go to the supermarket which is basically a WalMart. We actually were teaching the manager who is about Nathans age but he can’t come to church. Try looking up the supermarket its called "The Soriana". There is one here in Irapuato directly in front of the Church.

3. Are there any cats where you are?
3c. Yes, but very few.

4. Is there any open country/desert/mountains nearby?
4d. Yeah, there are some hills but they aren’t anything special.

5. Do you and Elder Velez play soccer with kids or each other?
5e. With kids in the street, no. But we have been trying to strengthen the relationship between our recent converts and members, and also attract less active members to come to church by having soccer night in the Church building every Friday.

6. Do you ever get to see Elder Ditto, or the other missionaries you came out with?
6f. No I haven’t seen them, but Sis.Cox tells me they are all doing good. Elder Ditto is doing well. I heard that Elder Callen who came with me has lost 20 pounds!

2008-08-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ohla Madrita!

The blog is really cool, it’s fun to read the comments. The mission is pretty good here. I’m definitely blessed. My comp and I were talking about Gregory (Bowden) last week and the differences in our mission’s. We both have our battles. Besides the Catholic Church, the Jehovah Witness’s are strong here. We have been working like crazy knocking a ton of doors looking for people to teach. When my comp and I knock doors we knock separated, he knocks one side of the street and I knock the other. This way we can work more effectively and contact more people. Anyways, I knocked the gate of this house and a lady comes out. I introduced myself very politely and said (translation) "My companion and I come here for two years to Mexico to help people and share a message that is really brief but very moving. One of our messages talks of God, Jesus Christ and respectively the family. We help people find more love, peace and direction in their lives and their family." After I invited her to listen, she went NUTS!! She started telling me that the only thing we do is annoy people and how DARE I tell her that she needs more direction in her life, she already has direction. She told me I know nothing about direction. I shook her hand and told her thanks for her time. My companion and I were laughing for a good 15 minutes because of her facial expression. Greg will learn ALOT in his mission. It feels pretty cool to know we are both going through this at the same time.

Well I gotta run, love ya!

Love, Elder Salazar

Yo padre, ¿que dice?(slang)

Things here have been good, its been pretty hot, yet it rains almost every night after about 12. There is a guy that lives here, I’m not even sure if he has a house, but he lives with about 9 or 10 dogs. He buys raw meat, cuts it and feeds it to them. It’s pretty funny when we pass by and he’s hanging out with all his dogs.

To answer your questions.

1. What do the people do for work in Irapuato?

1A. People here work a variety of jobs, but there is a General Motors plant here and alot of people have found a pretty good job with them but lately they have been laying people off, even our bishop got layed off. Other than that, there is a good amount of retail stores, alot of mechanical things cars, bicycle mechanics, waterpumps etc.

2. Do people rent or own their houses.

2A. I’m not too sure, the members we live behind own our condo and the one underneath, they are a little bit more wealthy than the average person here. Other than that I think most people rent their homes.

3. How's the food? Is it different than Los Compadres? (Benj's favorite mexican place at home)

3A. We eat a lot of soup! It’s been driving my comp and I nuts because the weather has been hot lately and they serve us even hotter soup. But sometimes we eat really good food like chorizo, bistec, carne asada, carnitas, the usual stuff we eat at Los Compadres or Los Sanchez, we eat tortillas with EVERYTHING. I still believe that Los Compadres is better than anything I have had here thus far.

4. Do they have fast food in Irapuato?

4A. Yes, but only in downtown. There is Dominos pizza, Burger king, McDonalds and another pizza placed called Lupillos which is really good. My zone has planned a trip to McDonalds the last day of this transfer =D.

5. Do the members feed you good?

5A. Yeah they feed us pretty good, but my comp and I don’t eat very much so they are always surprised when we never have more than seconds.

Well, I gotta run, thanks for the email! Love ya and miss ya!
- El Elder Salazar

P.S. I Enjoyed the pictures, especially Justin in the pic of the whole family.

2008-08-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ohla familia!
Things are going ok here, we have found a good amount of new people to teach and have even challenged a few to baptize. All have accepted. Today has been really cool. My comp and I went downtown, he bought some shoes and we just walked around a little bit and toured. It’s really beautiful even though today was rainy. It has been raining quite a bit here lately, but I like it because when we knock doors in the rain the people are a little more receptive to us, we just have to play the tired, wet and sad role! =D! Well I want to thank you for all the support and love, I look forward to Mondays! Enjoy the pics!Love elder Salazar!

Ohla Madre,
I received your letter! Dated July 3rd, I received it this past Monday (8/11) along with the wedding invitation from the Huffmire’s! It was really cool!! I scared everyone in my zone, when I opened David’s invitation I told everyone that his fiancée was my girlfriend! Everyone was quiet for a minute, but when I told them she really wasn’t they were all laughing. I would write more letters but really I have no way of sending them. There is a place downtown but we almost never go downtown so right now it’s basically impossible =(. I loved the quote you sent me by Neil A Maxwell, I translated it into Spanish and wrote it in my scriptures. Missing ya and love ya.
I’m working hard. Nos Vemos!

Hola padre,

Good hearing from ya. First off happy bday! It sounds like your bday went pretty well. The GPS sounds really cool; our gps here is a map. hahaha. Today was really cool, my companion and I went to downtown Irapuato, it’s actually called " El Centro ", it was really beautiful and really old.
Well I gotta run, but in answer to your questions.

1. Do people drive or walk to church?
2. Why don't you ride bikes in your mission?
3. What kind of family does Elder Velez come from?

1. The members here walk, ride bikes (sometimes 2 or 3 on 1 bicycle, it’s amazing), very few members have cars, and the rest take taxis.
2. We don’t ride bikes because about a year ago the president allowed the missionaries to ride bikes in our area because its huge, and the 1st day he allowed them to ride bikes one elder fell and broke his arm. Since then he hasn’t allowed it. I really, really want him to though, we walk ALOT.
3. Elder Velez comes from a really good family, he is number 6 I think of 8. I’m not sure how many bros and sis he has but all his older brothers have served missions in Mexico. He is from Southern Mexico, the state of Guerrero. His family owns a ranch near Mexico City. The Church owns a school and that is where he attended all of his schooling from the age 12 to 18, it’s really cool because he has a lot of friends among the other missionaries and members here that attended school with him.

Gotta run!

Love elder Salazar

2008-08-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hola Padre y Madre,

Padrito, tu español esta bien, hay cosas que pues...si necessita trabajar pero sin embargo esta bien. Yo tengo que aprender muchas cosas, durante las dias aqui en mexico, cada dia hay palabras y personas que yo no entiendo. Translation ->("Father, your spanish is very good. There are things that I still need to work on but this is good nevertheless. I must learn many things, during the days here in Mexico. Every day there are words and people I do not understand. ") Hahaha, there's my spanish for ya. I really enjoyed both of your emails, I figured because I have 4 of your emails since last week (we must have barely missed each other) I would write one big one for the both of you. This past week, yeah we had the opportunity to baptize the family of 4 and another nice kid name jorge, he's 25 years old but a really good person.

As you may or may not know there is no temple in the state of Guanajuato, the closest temple is 2.5 hours away westward in the state of Guadalajara. Every other Saturday the stake here rents a Greyhound bus and all the members travel to the temple, they are really dedicated, its amazing. When I arrived here in Leon I was talking with the president and he told me he has 2 goals here. The 1st is to baptize 300 in one month (if we do this Elder Bednar promised to come to the Leon mission and speak to us) and the 2nd goal is to increase the number of members who pay an honest, consistent tithe so that they can have a temple here in this state. I told him that I would make his goals my goals and would do everything I could to see those two things happen. Last week I printed a couple photos of the Newport Temple and pasted them in my scriptures, seeing photos of all 3 of our temples really brings me closer to home.

Nathan wrote me an email a couple weeks ago and told me that Yosh was moving out, Yosh has been a friend of Nathan and Justin for almost 10 years, I think since Nathan was a sophomore. I think they will miss his presence. Imagine having a roommate that doesnt speak english, ahahah.

Congrats to Nathan for his job promotion, he lives in a land of opportunity. I have seen very few people with real success here, partly because its so hard to come by here. Well, things here have been OK. I am doing fine personally, but the work here is really tough, we started this transfer with 0 investigators so we spend our days knocking doors in the sun and contacting people in the street. It sounds crazy but we knock more or less 100 doors a day, and sometimes teach no more than 5 lessons a day. But on Friday we found 4 new investigators that are really solid, so we have some hope right now. I dont know if I have explained much about the city i'm in right now, Irapuato. But just to give you a quick description it's alot like east LA. Its very poor (which I knew and expected coming to Mexico). But as of lately I have realized somethings that make me unhappy with the people here (excluding the members). As missionaries of the restored Church of Jesus Christ we offer a message that truly improves the lives of every person we meet in every aspect, yet the people here just do not understand this. They only understand that their parents were catholic, also their grandparents, great grandparents etc., and that's why they are catholic and will not give us 5 minutes to share something with them. Also, here in Irapuato there are TONS of gangsters. The other day my comp and I saw 2 gangsters in the street with their pitbulls. Their pitbulls had chains around their necks and were dragging car tires, these cholos are training their dogs to fight. I have seen lots of things here... Its amazing the things going on here...

Well, to answer your questions dad...

1. We arent in the APT. that much... from 630am to 10am we get up, (I exercise, he sleeps), breakfast and study. And we come home at 9/930 to 1030 we plan for the next day and we sleep. But we talk alot in the street. We talk about everything, movies, family, investigators, things that are happening in the street. etc.

2. My spanish is pretty good, I feel pretty confident. When we knock a street my comp knocks on one side of the street and I knock on the other side, so I feel pretty good. Now and then when we are with members and they talk about things that aren't very common (cars, medical things, etc.) Its a little more difficult

3. P'day, we get up, study, go back to sleep a little bit (because we have nothing to do). We clean the apartment, wash clothes, write our families, and write letters to the president. At 5pm to 6pm we have a zone meeting with all the other missionaries in irapuato. After 6 we usually have an appointment with a member family, or investigators we are teaching, or have a family home evening with the members. It's a really relaxing day.

Well I gotta move on to the next email, thank you for writing me! It really picks me up during the week and gives me lots to think about when we are walking in the street (we walk ALOT). I hope you're enjoying the Olympics, my comp and I heard that there are about 600 american atheletes? Not positive...and we heard there are 86 Mexican atheletes. So I have been teasing him alot... =D.

Love ya!

Elder Salazar

2008-08-05T01:20:00.000-07:00

Hola familia Y Amigos!

How's everything going?? I hope all had a really good fast sunday. This week went pretty well for us, our zone baptized and we baptized as well. I have to run because right now I am with my zone leader. I have included a photo of our baptisms and a wonderful dish called baptism by fire, it's bistec with lots of chile! gotta run!!

Hola Madre y Padre,

How is everything going? How was your fast sunday? Mine was pretty good, I went on splits with a member of our ward and it went pretty well, I felt pretty good because I was speaking spanish the whole time, I understood everything and I navigated our area perfectly as we sought out inactive members so I have been feeling pretty good. Our transfer ended yesterday and I will be here in Irapuato for another 6 weeks with Elder Velez, so not much has changed. We Baptized this weekend which was very nice. We baptized a family and a really nice kid named Jorge. It went pretty well. It felt really good walking home knowing that the fruits of all the work with these 5 people is showing. Not much happened this week, our zone is changing because of the transfers and one of our zone leaders is going to Leon because he is going home, so last night his companion (the other zone leader) stayed the night at our apartment. It was pretty fun. We live in a little triplex apartment kinda thing, my companion and I live above a member, and behind another member family. The member family is really, really nice, the past three weeks they have been buying us pizza and we all watch movies of the church in their condo. They really love us, they have two sons both about 12 years old and every Sunday they ask us what movie we are going to watch, it's pretty cool. Well everything is good right now, we recieved our 1000 pesos for the month and I bought tons of cereal, eggs, etc. =D. Well, I gotta run, thanks for all the love and support.

Love,

Elder Salazar!

2008-07-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ohla familia y amigos!

¿Como estan? Pues, aqui es mi reporto para esta semana...nada mucho paso, pero establecemos cuatro bautizmos por este fin de semana. (How are you? Here is my report for the week. Not much is going on right now, but we have four baptism's scheduled for next weekend.) So we're excited! Expect a larger report next monday. I dont have much to talk about right now, but thanks for all the comments! Heres a picture of my little buddy that hangs out on our steps, and a picture of yours truly!

Ohla madre!

Sounds like the pioneer fair was pretty fun, its cool to hear whats going on with the ward and stake. Be sure to send Jared and James my bienvenidos, its pronounced "bee en ben eedose". As for my pants, I'm just going to wash them regularly, we hang dry all of our clothes/garments so I'm sure they'll be OK. Don't worry about sending me pants, Maybe this week or next my comp and I will go to Walmart and I can buy a pair of dickies or slacks, everything is super cheap here so I can do it when I need them. I haven't gotten your July 3 letter yet, I'm sure it has arrived at the mission office here. We had a big meeting with president the other night but he didn't bring letters. I have already received dads package and I have already eaten everything, including the box. Well I gotta run, but yeah i'm loving the blog too! its cool to read all the comments even though I cant reply to all of them I really enjoy them.
Love ya!
El misionero de los mejores padres!
Elder Salazar

Ohla padre,

ya recibi so correo electronico, thanks! As for the blog everything looks good, thanks for updating it for me it saves lots of time, I really enjoy reading the comments. As for clothes, everything is fine. My suits are clean, I only have to wash a couple pairs of slacks but they aren't even that bad. You should see some of the clothes of the missionaries in my zone, it looks like they have been through 2 missions. Also, we have lots of places to buy clothes here, there is a walmart and other stores to buy stuff. Also, almost everyday Irapuato has basically a swapmeet(called Tiangis) where they close a street down and the people sell all types of stuff. I Bought a cheapie watch the other day for 60 pesos which is 6 american dollars, it's not too bad, although I miss my G-shock, this one will do for now. Well I gotta run!

Love ,
Elder Salazar

2008-07-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hol Familia!

This week has been good, it's starting to warm up here which is nice because we don't have the pouring rain. We don't have dryers to dry our clothes so we leave them out during the day, when It rains it soaks our clothes so we have to wash them over again so it has been nice not worrying about that. Also, this past Saturday we baptized a mom and her two daughters it was really nice. We have been working with them about a month and seeing the restored gospel enter their lives has been a testimony to me. I gotta keep this one short, but thank you for all your support, Emails and everything!

Hola padre,
Got your package! I received it this past Thursday. President Cox and his wife brought it to me when I had interviews with him (They haven't gotten moms letter yet). Thanks! I had been dying for some candy. I don't buy much candy or anything to eat at the house. I really have to budget my money because we use alot of our money to buy taxis to bring our investigators to church.

Buenas Tardes madre,
Como te vas??Ojala todo esta bien. Everything is good here, this week was really good. We have been tracting in some different neighborhoods of our area, so we have found a few more people to teach. Thursday was nice, my comp and I rode the bus (the buses here are absolutely insane)to central Irapuato were we met President Cox and his wife and all of our zone for interviews. We had a really good interview. I'm really really blessed to have them as my mission presidents they both really care about me.

Love ya!! El Elder Salazar

2008-07-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hola familia!

I hope all is well. Here is my weekly report----This week, we have had TONS of rain, we have been running home soaked everynight which is fun because we live outside our area so it takes about 15 minutes to get home. In the daytime it will be really hot and at night POURING rain with Lighting and thunder that ive never expierienced before, its pretty cool. This week I have been making french toast everymorning, at night Im excited to sleep because I know when I wake up Im going to have french toast, its the little things here in the mission that make me happy. Umm, what else...the other day a member took us out for tacos. we fit 8 missionaries into a ford focus. 1 in the trunk, 4 people in the backseat with one laying across their laps and 3 in the front seat(it was stickshift by the way) not to mention all of our backpacks. Nevertheless, the tacos were amazing. My companion is from guerrero mexico yet he has lighter skin than me, so when we are in the streets lots of people think its funny to try to talk to him in english and he absolutely hates it. I think its great because I act like I dont understand, lots of people tell us that I look more mexican than him, I love it. well I gotta run, I hope you enjoy the photos, the scorpion accompanied me today as I did my laundry (you know your in mexico when scorpions help you with laundry), Mis pantalones, my desk, elder velez and I giving service and finally me in a taxi. Love ya!!

To Dad,

This week was good. We had a zone conference with president and his wife on wednesday. So we got up about 5 in the morning and traveled by bus about an hour to a little town called Celaya it was really cool. About 50 missionaries. The president was really funny, he served in peru so he can speak spanish but his wife cant. He was giving a talk in spanish about how when we return home life is different with our wives, they are eternal companion. He was kindof focusing on how hard it is and we were lauging, she sort of realized what he was talking about, got up and walked up to him and grabbed his tie really hard, we were all lauging. He defended himself by saying to her that he was telling us in spanish that she kisses well and smells good. It was really funny... they are really good people, she is just like mom. Always asking me if Im ok and I have everything I need. Our bishop here is really good, hes pretty young, about rickys age, but he has alot of enthusiasm so he helps us out alot with the members. The area Im in is pretty poor, read ericas email and you will get an Idea, its pretty ghetto. There are a few private propertys that are really nice but who knows, they probably harbor and sell drugs. My comp is a nice kid, we are almost the same age. He was born the 26 of january and is from guerrero mexico which is really close to acapulco. He graduated from a school ran by the LDS church in mexico city so hes pretty smart and knows just a tiny bit of english which helps me alot. Im not really sure what he likes to do, I think he likes dancing.

Hola madre!

Como estan todo la familia?? Thats funny that you guys are watching big brother again, typical! My comp and I had lunch with a family who has a little more money, they love to watch tv and I was telling them how you have your weekly shows that you absolutley have to watch. They were lauging and the mom of the family said she definitely can relate with you. We eat really well, we only eat once a day at 230pm, but we have food in the apartment so at night if I get hungry, plus there are tons of ¨abarrhotes¨ which are basically tiny liquor stores where i can buy a soda and my favorite...pinguinos(hostess cupcakes)! all for about 15 pesos, a buck fifty. Well I gotta move on to the next email, mi padre ricardo. Love ya madre, no estoy tomando la agua porque es puro polvo, te amo!(I'm not drinking the water, it's pure dust)

Right now we are in the 4th week of our transfer. Transfers are 6 weeks long and when the 6th week comes its not guarenteed that you will be transferred to another area, for example, I have been in the ciudad de Irapuato for 6 weeks. When this transfer is up, I will have about 8 weeks here, but I think Im going to be transferred this transfer because Im new, but who knows. Our daily routine here is 630 am we wake up, every single day with the exception of lunes where my companion tells me we can sleep a little longer but im not to sure how correct he is on that so I get up at 630 nevertheless. study till 10am sometimes 11 when I want to study spanish, and after we leave the house. Everyday we walk across a huge field filled with trash, rats, and tons of dogs, basically we walk, walk some more and walk. Everyday at 230 we have lunch with members and at 9 we return to the apt and get ready to sleep, sometimes I study more because I love to study. Irapuato is pretty ghetto. There is tons of graffiti, tons of cholos and gangsters, lots of cars, lots of dogs (dead, alive and dying) there is no trash systems so people throw trash wherever they please so sometimes the streets absolutely stink. At times I feel like its LA or santa ana, but I like it because everyday is exciting and there is so much activity. This place never slows down, only sunday morning when everyone is in the catholic church!! Basically that's the low down.

Goodbye,

Love Elder Benjamin