Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
To my family and friends, Thank you!!
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
Monday, March 1, 2010
Four confirmations. ZL training. New AP's. New ZL's. 7265 blog hits.
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
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
Monday, February 22, 2010
Baptism. Sore foot. Training. 7115 blog hits
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
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
Monday, February 15, 2010
Working hard, Investigator. 6990 blog hits.
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
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
Monday, February 8, 2010
Baptism's. Rain. P-days again. 6870 blog hits.
(Click on image to enlarge)
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)
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)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Elder DeHoyos (Area Presidency) visits mission. Baptisms. 7 new missionaries arrive. 6740 blog hits
AP's and Elder Banjamin DeHoyos and wife. (click image to enlarge)
Hey Mom & Dad,
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.
.
.
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.
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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.
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Well I have to run but enjoy a few pictures! =D
.
Love Elder Salazar
Love Elder Salazar
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Elder De Hoyos Mission Tour. Baptised family of three. 6650 blog hits
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
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
Monday, January 18, 2010
Elder Callen, Maxfield. 150 baptism's. Dos Por Dios. 6550 blog hits.
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)
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)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Arbide. 21st birthday. 6430 blog hits
“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
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
Monday, January 4, 2010
Leon. Baptism's. 370 baptism's for December. 6300 blog hits
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
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)
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas Eve in the mission hm. BMS phone home. 6210 blog hits
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)
(Click on image to enlarge)
Hola madre y padreI 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)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Arbide. Elder Maxfield. 2 Baptism's. 6130 blog hits.
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
Monday, December 14, 2009
Arbide & Loma Bonita. Baptism. Maxfield & Callen. 6050 blog hits
President Cox with Elders Callen, Maxfield & Salazar
click on image to enlarge
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.
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! ***
Anyways, I gotta run but thanks for everything!
Love ya!!!
ELDER SALAZAR
*** HAPPY BDAY NATE! ***
Monday, December 7, 2009
Loma Bonita. Elder Maxfield. Moved into mission home. 5940 Blog hits
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.
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
Monday, November 30, 2009
Arbide. Elder Maxfield. New assignment: Assistant to the President. 5850 blog hits
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.
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!!!
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)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Arbide. Elders Maxfield, Granillo. Baptism. 5790 blog hits
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
Click on image to enlarge
FamilyI 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
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Arbide. Elders Granillo, Maxfield. 4 baptism's. 5705 Blog hits
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Arbide. Elders Granillo, Maxfield. 5650 blog hits
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
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
Monday, November 2, 2009
Arbide. Elder Maxfield. Knee hurts. 5585 blog hits
( 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
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
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