July 20, 2015

HOLA

hey so this was a pretty chill week. we got a new Zone Leader that is really awesome. this kid for me is a huge inspiration and has motivated me to be better. he got sent home when he had like 13 months for doing something stupid, but then came back after a while and you can tell that this kid learned his lesson and really gets the big picture. I'm really impressed with his knowledge and leadership skills.

anyway, the other day we went to that one little town that is like 4 hours walking distance and we helped that family collect mushrooms cause apparently that's just the big thing here. so then we started walking home and a crazy storm hit us and it was raining SO HARD. needless to say we got soaking wet. there was lighting striking everywhere and my comp kinda got freaked out cause he has a fear of lightning apparently, and so while we were at the peak of the mountain we stopped and said a prayer....as we were saying it idk why but i looked up into the sky and saw a lightning bolt come straight down at us but then just a couple hundred feet in the air it detoured and took a different direction and struck elsewhere. i was just really calm though. i knew that God was protecting us. and He really did. he protected us big time and nothing bad happened. it was actually really fun. i had fun at least. so one of the crazy parts is that we had to cross a ton of rivers that were overflowing and we were already soaking wet so we just walked through them because there was really no other way to do it. it was hilarious and we laughed a lot. just made jokes about it and stuff. but all in all it was great. 

well that's really all the news i have for this week. we are getting a little more success on the work, but ill let you all know when cool stuff happens. love you all a ton! have a great week!

Elder Glenn

July 13, 2015

HOLA

so this was an interesting week. there is this girl here that had her quinceañera and we were supposed to do the "misa" part. which is a bunch of catholic tradition and quite frankly neither of us have ever been to one...so we had no idea what we were doing, so we asked one of our Zone leaders to help us out and he said he would take care of the whole thing....until the day of when he called and said he had to go to Chihuahua and couldn't do it anymore so WE had to plan it all last second and give talks and all this stuff.....then a BUNCH of people came and they (obviously catholics) were all like "what the heck are these two gringos doing?" it was pretty funny but we actually did an excellent job and even got respect from the local catholic community :)

but that was basically the excitement for the week. our area is basically dead, but we are going to work super hard this week to try and pick things up so that we can have new investigators and activate the less active members here. 

well i hope you all have a fantastic week! love you all loads. take care!

Elder Glenn

July 6, 2015

hola

So this was a pretty awesome first week with Elder Woods. the first day we had to walk to this place that is like really far away, but it was so pretty on the way. like honestly i feel like i am not in Chihuahua. the air just constantly smells like pine trees....which i have missed SO MUCH. and i almost cry everyday from laughing so hard because of stuff that happens or stuff that my comp says. its great. and the people here are super nice. they had been focussing a lot on the members and stuff, so we don't have many investigators. so this week we are determined to find new people to teach....our house is alright, but the best part is that we have a freaking GYM. so yeah we are going there every morning at like 6 and working out....and wow i feel out of shape, but its all good. hopefully ill be here for the rest of my mission and i will be not so out of shape for when i get home haha. 

well it rains really hard here and its humid and cold so my shoes don't really dry out as fast (or at all) as i would like, but that's alright. nothing ever really dries out though....so thats cool. but we just have a blast and laugh at everything. like the other day we are walking home and it was raining so hard that all the streets were like flooding. and to get back we had to make like little brides with cement chunks that were just on the sidewalk....luckily there are lots of random cement chunks everywhere. but it was pretty awesome to say the least. i learned something from Elder Woods the last time i was with him and it stuck with me. when "bad" things happen we have to choices; get upset, or just laugh and enjoy it. and jeez this whole week there have just been a bunch of "bad" things that have happened but instead of getting upset i just laugh. and we both laugh a lot so its just awesome. i'm gonna send some other sweet pics too so i hope you all like them! have a great week and keep firm in the faith!

Elder Glenn

Happy 4th of July cake!!!

this is San Juanito 

 pure awesomeness

June 30,2015

HOLA

well literally like just a couple hours ago we got transfer calls....an I'm leaving. which totally caught us by surprise because my comp finishes his mission next week so we did not see it coming. to be completely honest I'm pretty bummed and sad that i have to say goodbye to everyone here. i love Valle so much. and i wish i could be here longer. this place and the members here are just like a family. seriously i have grown to love them all so much. i am going to miss everyone here and more than anything i am going to miss my companion Elder Castro. he has become to be my best friend in the world. we have been through some really rough things together and we have been able to enjoy the most fruitful blessings thanks to God's Grace and mercy. these past 3 months have quite literally been the best i have ever experienced in my life. i don't know if i have ever experienced such happiness before. and i have come to understand things about the gospel of Jesus Christ that i never really got or saw before. the Lord has blessed me so much more than i deserve. i love how the hymn Rock of Ages #111 in English says in the second verse Not the labors of my hands Can fill all the law's demands; Could the zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; thou must save and thou alone." even with all my effort, even if i gave Christ all i have for the rest of my life, i could never even pay the price for not a single sin. HE saves us with His grace after we do all that we can. and in reality we do very very little. so i am a little bummed....................................................

....................................................................and i wrote that yesterday and right now i am in my new area its called San Juanito and it is the farthest from the offices and it is in the mountain range and my comp is........Elder Woods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when they told me in the transfers i freaked out i couldn't believe it. so all the sadness i had....is honestly gone. I'm super happy. I'm glad i get to be with my other best friend for the last few weeks he has left. and we are the first American missionaries here in like 7 years....and Elder Woods is the branch president. BTW it is super pretty here. PINE TREES everywhere. and we have to walk like 4 hours to get to some guys house tomorrow to teach him how to give priesthood blessings and then 4 hours to return....its gunna be sweet. but let me just tell you some funny stuff that has happened. well on the way here Woods is like telling me that it like doesn't rain here that much but that even when it does it only rains for like 5 minutes....we got here an hour and a half ago and it ha been pouring non stop ha ha i am soaking wet and i need to buy an umbrella asap. we also have a dog that like guards the apartment building we stay in....and he said that this huge German Shepard doesn't bite or anything....that's funny because the second we get there it starts barking and freaking out and then he says that its just cause its being dumb but that he just acts tough but never bites.....it then proceeded to bite him! ha ha i couldn't help but laugh..it was great. he is fine, it didn't break skin but it was really funny. I'm cold and wet but i am super content and happy to be here and ready to work. just wanted to get this letter off. love you all so much!

Elder Glenn

Elder Castro's birthday cake. he turned 20

me and my best bud 

 our friend we found in the house :)

 the missionaries and some of our tightest members here in Parral :)

June 24, 2015

hola

so this was an interesting week. but everything went well and Edgar got baptize! also Eduardo gave his first talk in church and it was priceless! so so awesome. i am so proud of that kid. he like cried because he was talking about being with his family forever and then after he finished his little brother(Edgar who had just been confirmed) ran over to him and they hugged. everyone was touched.

so on Monday we went to a zone activity and played soccer and idk exactly what my comp did but he managed to dislocate his shoulder entirely so we had to rush him to the hospital in an ambulance and wait for the doctor to get there, all the while my comp was just begging the people to give him something for the pain. poor guy. they say that that kind of dislocation hurts way worse than a fracture. but if I'm completely honest it was kind of humorous the way he was demanding people to give him drugs, and then would apologize and just say that he was in lots of pain. i could help but laugh a little. i know. I'm terrible. but its the cold truth. i told him after and he laughed with me so its all good. so he got the attention needed and everything, but they like put him to sleep to do it all because the pain was too much to bear and so the bill ended up being like 11,000 pesos....and we couldn't leave without paying so we had to wait forever for the secretaries to come from Chihuahua and pay for it so we didn't leave until like 11:15. then yesterday we had to go to Chihuahua to the missions doctor to make sure everything will heal well and so we were traveling all day and in more hospitals...but finally we are here in Valle again and ready to work and hopefully baptize this little 8 year old boy this Saturday. just pray that his parents can soften their hearts and allow it :) 

well i love you all loads and i hope this week goes well for you!bye!

Elder Glenn

Eduardo likes to wear my nametag and carry my comps backpack so that he can look

 like a real missionary haha. this kid is awesome!

 Edgar´s baptism!

 this kid is crazy and started trying to soak me and make me swim and stuff haha. he is the most happy kid i have ever seen right after a baptism. we let him swim around for like 30 minutes 

 (from left to right) E. Fangupo, me, E. Castro and E. Simon in the hospital for 11 hours straight!

June 15, 2015

a drawing of the virgin that i drew lol

right after they got married!!!

Marcial´s baptism (from last week)

 el bautismo de la familia Fragoso Bailón :)