Nov. 24, 2014

HOLA

so this week i had my hump day. didn't really feel any different. but i did get the package with all the wonderful letters n stuff so that was awesome. it was super awesome to read letters in Spanish from some of the ward members. but the one that shocked me the most was from Bro. Schetzlar....yeah i have no idea how to spell it. i didn't know he served in Chile. his Spanish is still SUPER good. like wow. it was a really powerful note he wrote. anyway. i just loved everything from everyone. 

pues ya hace tiempo(idk how to translate but basically means for a while now? or something) for a while now i have been studying about humility. like 5 months. studying it and TRYING to live it. i have felt like after studying so much i have failed and haven't made a lot of progress. but them two really cool things happened this week. first: a friend Elder Wright who i met when i first got here told me that for some time he has been wanting to tell me something. and he told me that i have changed so much from when i first arrived. that i have become much much more humble. i felt so much peace because i have really been down a little after so much effort in trying to become humble and thinking that i haven't changed at all. so i felt like that really was an answer to prayers. and then we were with one of the members in his little store when some super drunk borracho came in and started talking to us. my companion talks a lot and i listen a lot and well i like to try and listen to what people are saying and analyze more and then speak. so the guy basically ripped on my comp telling him that he needed to talk more humbly and love people. it was very interesting because i barely said anything. but we learned some really important stuff from this guy. he said that if everyone talked like me then this world would be a better place. i laughed hard at that. but what he meant was that we need to love and listen to others. not be so caught up in ourselves and just speak with humility. i definitely am no humble enough. i have a LOT to improve on, but i feel like these were little occasions that i was able to receive confirmation that i am improving.

i also learned that we cant say the we love someone if we don't serve them. so SERVE. everyone around and let Christ´s love fill you and those around you. i have found this to be the best way to love thy neighbor. just like in the parable of the good Samaritan, loving you neighbor means serving you enemy :) well i love you all and hope this week is a good one!

Love,

Elder Glenn

                             Elder woods, last day together

Our Apartment 

   A boy named Daniel and his brother David, 

This is the second time I cut his hair

Elder Gonzales on our 4 hour round trip to Parritas

 Random pictures that I found on the Mission FB page 

Jacob is in the back right side, smiling as always!!

Nov. 17, 2014

hola 

That's right ladies and gents. 1 year this week. super duper crazy stuff right here. I'm super super stoked, but its kind of a bittersweet feeling. one year left until i go home, but only one year left of being a missionary. i seriously look forward to seeing everyone again, BUT more than that i just love being a missionary and serving the Lord. i have learned so much and been so humbled this past year. i have a long way to go but i have been able to realize the incredible amount of pride that i have. that we all have. we just have to recognize it and accept that and do things to change daily. thank you all for your support and love! love you all to bits!

So this week my companion and i have been working SUPER SUPER hard. honestly really hard. and we were fasting and praying and just echandonle ganas. and really no one was receiving us or listening to us or however you say it. anyway, it was really awesome. really hard but really awesome. we kept up our animo and kept working hard even with all the difficulty we had. THEN comes Sunday morning. we passed by 4 families homes and NONE of them came to church....we get to church to find out that one of our investigators that ALWAYS goes to church didn't show up, along with the other investigators that had baptismal dates that a sister in the branch was supposed to go and bring didn't come. we were super bummed to say the least...then. came in , a little late, a sister in the branch along with.....wait for it....a family of 4. a mom, and her two twin sons (10) and her daughter (8). it truly was a miracle. one of the most amazing miracles that i have seen here on the mission. it truly goes to show that if we work hard and diligently, the Lord will bless us with fruits. she is a like golden investigator. super super stoked and ready to hear the message. really open minded too. she is going through a really tough time as to the fact that her husband just left her and is with someone else now. its super sad, but we are going to help her to find faith in Christ and improve her life.

well this weeks work paid off! gonna keep working hard and try to improve! love you all! have a fantastic week!!

Love,

Elder Glenn

Nov. 3, 2014
¡Hola!

So Elder Woods left :( super sad to see him go but that's just the mission. i was pretty frustrated with my Zone Leaders though, because right before we went to bed that night they called and said that i was going to train! so i was super super duper excited to be training. like so excited that i legit only slept an hour and a half MAYBE. so then we get to Chihuahua and i was anticipating waiting and nothing....i ended up with Elder Gonzalez. He is great! BUT as you can imagine i was just really really bummed and bugged because my ZL's had told me all that. oh well. it happens. but I'm now super excited to be working with Elder Gonzalez. he is a hard worker and is from Ecuador. another Ecuadorian! he is getting accustomed to the long walks we have to take here to get to places even though he has 16 months in the mission. we get along fin and its really great working with him. 

other than that there really isnt much news. Halloween here isn't really a thing. but there was a car driving around honking and then just throwing tons of candy out the window ha ha....it would be so frowned upon in the states. i can seriously almost hear the mothers complaining already :) they celebrate the two days afterwards. the 1st and 2nd of November as the days of the dead. its wack. and they tell us that Halloween is worshipping the devil its super funny. that in the states we all just worship Satan once a year or something....ha ha better than the people who worship La Santísima Muerte!! that's right folks....holy death....that's a real thing that people worship. i have already had some no so fun experiences with that kinda stuff...but I'll save that for when i get home ;) ha ha

well i love you all! i hope all goes well for you this week! keep praying and being good people! :)

Love 

Elder Glenn

Oct. 27, 2014

Sweet!

So this week Dalia got baptized! We were super super happy. we have been working really hard and we just really wanted to get her excited for her baptism because she always said she wanted to but she just like wasn't super excited, so we brought in some sister missionaries that totally got her excited. Dalia and her mom Veronica speak English and the sister missionaries do too so they were all just like girling it up and Dalia got really stoked for her baptism. so that was cool. so on Saturday she got baptized and yesterday confirmed. me and Elder Woods prepared a special musical number and sang ''lead kindly light'' or ''divina luz'' and it went super well and she like cried. it was a great service. it was a really great week but we honestly were just working and focusing on her so not a ton of other stuff got done. but that's alright because we have a couple other investigators that are progressing and i think we will have a couple more baptisms :)

So the news came last night and Elder Woods has transfers....I'm super bummed and so is he. it has been the most fun i have had in the whole mission. I'm seriously gonna miss him. but i know i will see him again in or after the mission. he has become a very close friend of mine and has loved listening to all the adventures of the Eskibros. 

this week i learned a lot about pride. i had a really cool experience and was able to let go of my own pride and realize that i was wrong and just accept that and accept the criticism of other, and i realized that when accepting said critique we shouldn't just automatically look at what the others are doing wrong and point that out right away, rather just change ourselves. it was really great. i just have a really strong testimony of pride. its always nice to get a good lil' reality check here n' there. i love in Alma 5:14-16 where it talks about looking at ourselves and reflecting. seeing if we really are being more like Christ or less than yesterday. that is the challenge.

Well i love you all! hope your week is great!

Love,

Elder Glenn

Oct, 20, 2014

Hola

Alright so this week was pretty great. not a lot happened, but it was good.  we walked 2 hours one way just to go to find out that our investigator wasn't there, so we took advantage of the opportunity and cleaned the town plaza. so that was cool, then we just had to walk back which took 2 hours. i got my package in the mail this week which was super awesome. thank you mom! now i have a camera and will be taking awesome pix.

so i included a picture of this little old lady. her name is Amelia Cervantes. she is was the first member in this area over 40 years ago. she is THE most awesome lady i think i have ever met that isn't part of my family. legit. this lady is going to be exalted on high. i know i can't actually judge her to say that, but i just did. she is so incredibly faithful. she grew up in terrible circumstances, and then some guy basically came along and told her to marry him so she didn't really have a say, then when he started being really abusive she went back to her parents and they just said to deal with it and that it was her fault for getting married. so she went back to him and just put up with it and never told anyone. for years and years. then the missionaries came and she was converted, and all her kids were baptized and even her husband eventually. she said it made everything worth it. and that the trials she has had are what has kept her faith strong. she eventually did get sealed to her husband but then shortly after he died. her greatest joy is that ONE of her sons went on a mission and is still faithful in the church. literally all the rest of her kids don't even talk to her and completely denounce any relation to the church. she is the happiest, most generous sweet little lady. she has the biggest heart. and she told my companion and i her ENTIRE story. she then told us that over all the years we were two or only three people she has ever told that to. she said she didn't know why, but that the spirit impressed her to do so. and she knows that its for something.

well i can honestly say this little lady has more faith than i have probably ever seen. she is absolutely incredible. unshakable and inspiring. has moved me to strive to become better and not complain about my circumstances. well i love you all and hope we can all strive to be better this week! 

Elder Glenn

                               Hermana Cervantes

                                    cool tree tunnel

Oct. 13,2014

Howdy folks.

So kinda sad...but Dalia didn't get baptized this week, but its alright because she wants to but she is just trying to make sure she has a testimony so i am super happy.  she didn't even come to church this week :( so this week we are going to be visiting her and trying to help her feel more confidant. i have high hopes! also we went and visited this kid that is 15 yrs old and he lives like 2 hours away walking (we cant ride our bikes on the trail to get there) and we haven't heard from him for like weeks so we went and he has been reading his scriptures and praying and everything and is super stoked and wants to get baptized. we were blown away. also his mom came in and we started teaching her. turns out she has been reading and praying with her son and when Lorenzo said the closing prayer she cried and was just feeling the spirit a ton and even was able to recognize that it was an answer from God. needless to say it was really awesome. they both accepted baptismal dates and are doing really well. super excited to visit them this week!

whilst other than that not much happened this week. we reached all of the goals we set which is like a first in this areas history. gonna be working super hard this week to help all these people out. its still super hot here. i just found a shirt that is new in my suitcase so that's cool. well i love you all! hope you all have a great week!

love,

Elder Glenn

Oct. 6, 2014

Alright so general conference was SO GREAT! wow I hope ALL of you watched it. because it was amazing. seriously. the testimonies of the prophets are so incredibly powerful and helped me resolve to become a better missionary and recommit myself aún más al Señor. we were privileged enough to be able to watch it in English, which is good because there were a ton of English speakers there, and then during the native Spanish speakers we would run into the main room and watch it in Spanish and it was super cool! loved it. i received a lot of personal revelation and i hope you all were able to do the same. i know my prayers were answered in the conference and that the Lord was speaking to me through the prophets. one very important thing that was just hammered in at conference was the importance of the habits we make of scripture study and personal prayers. we really should include our Father in Heaven in all aspects of our lives. all day everyday. He cares about even the tiniest things and He is the only one who knows exactly what perfect advice to give us. ¡Confíemos en Él! 

I'm super grateful that my dad got his knee surgery taken care of without any complications. apparently he had his entire knee taken out and now has a BIONIC KNEE. i pray for his quick recovery, and am filled with good laughs because my mom sent me some GREAT pictures of him after his surgery.

Well that's about all that's going on here. we really didn't work a ton because we were travelling a lot for conferences with the president and our zone. but we are going to work a TON this week so we can help our investigator Dalia get baptized this Saturday!!! well i hope you all have a fantastic week! love you!

Elder Glenn

our little room that got SUPER HOT AND SMELLY. yep those are sisters back there. we had about 12 missionaries in there listening to the conference in English.