Elder Bautista's Injection

                                Elder Redford & Elder Bautista at the Monterrey Mexico Temple

¡Feliz Cumpleaños! Happy Birthday! - February 13, 2013

¡Feliz Cumpleaños! Happy Birthday!

So, ShayLynn turned 16, and Mom turned 32, huh? ;P 

Well, want to let you know that I thought of you! 

Wow, I have to say that it sounds weird to hear that ShayLynn is driving to and from School now. 

What, Los 3 Amigos closed???? I was totally planning on returning back one day, ordering in Spanish acting like I knew what´s up with Mexican Food, and showing you all how to eat with tortillas :) 

Do you have a new calling then, Mom? With girls camp? It´s fun to hear that you will be involved, and I hope you and ShayLynn enjoy coming up with your fun twist ;). You two are pretty creative ;) 

Crazy to hear that Roger is back and that Arthur is leaving! I am glad that he decided to go :)

Sorry I didn´t write Monday, our Preparation day was moved to today because we went to the temple this morning. Completely in Spanish this time :) As always, it was wonderful. We go once every transfer, meaning that I am on my second transfer here in Mexico. :) The Spanish is definitely coming along ;) We had a new missionary join our District from Washington State, and he is really struggling with the language, and with being excited about the work when he doesn't understand everything that is going on. I want to try and help him out as best as I can ;). I only have one transfer more than him though, I am still new myself, but I can see how much we learn in six weeks. 

With Transfers, we have a new District Leader, Elder Erekson from Orem. We had Companion Exchanges this week, and he was my companion for a day. We had a good time, and I got to speak in English for a little bit too. :) 

Lately we have been doing Open Houses of the chapple to contact people. We had eight elders all together, a companionship on each corner, contacting people and inviting them to take a tour of the chapple. Elder Bautusta says is was like 'attack of the Mormons'. We contacted just about everyone walking on the 18 De Marzo (the name of the Street) that day ;) Only three people have actually come into the chapple, though... 

Elder Bautista was having problems with this leg hurting on Tuesday. We walked from one end of our area to the other, and by the end, he could hardly walk with an umbrella as a can in one hand and me supporting him on the other. The next day we stopped by a pharmacy to get him some pills and heat pads, as directed by Hna Bird, wife of the Mission President, but Elder Bautusta called our Doctor (of the Mission I think) and told him to buy an injection. So rather than going to get a shot, we bought the needle prefilled with the medication. It was huge! And the fluid was blood red. Elder Bautista said it looked Satanic, which it did ;)  Another Elder in our District, who had, apparently, injected animals before, was the one to inject Elder Bautista. It turned out well in the end; almost right away he could walk normally again. 

 

We haven´t been able to teach Jose Luis again.... I am really sad about that. We have rescheduled twice, but it is hard to get a hold of him. 

We were going to have a baptism this Saturday, but our investigator's, mother fell sick and left to take care of her for the week, and wasn´t able to attend church, and Her daughter Clariza wasn't able to either because she worked. So hopefully they can attend this Sunday, because they are more than ready to be Baptized :) 

Today after we went to the temple (got up at 4:30), our district decided to eat at a restaurant, since it is our P-day, and on the way back. We ate at Los Generales, The Generals. The food was alright, but it was a buffet, so we were able to eat as much as we wanted. Then to finish it off, restaurant Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips!. A lot of the candies here are made with chile powder, and are meant to be spicy. They are alright, but sometimes I just want a good piece of chocolate ;) 

I am trying to study hard and figure out how to teach better. It takes a lot of patience, both the learning, and also the teaching. I want these people to just understand how true the gospel is, but they don't always put in their part, so they aren't able to experience it all the way. We also have a lot of less active members, and we can´t figure out why they don't want to come back. I've really been praying a lot for the Holy Ghost, to help our investigators, and the members, feel it is true. We really are having success though, and I should probably focus on that a little more :) 

Well, that was my week and a half ;) Hope I can write more Monday ;) 

I LOVE you all so much, 

Elder Redford 

7th Week in the Field :) - February 3, 2014

Hola Mi Familia! 

It was a great week this week. This week we offered a lot of service. We helped Adrian and his family move from the from one end of the ward to the other (into our area). (I have written about him previously, he is really poor, and his wife almost decided not to come back to live with him, but thanks to a wonderful experience with prayer, they are together again as a family. He is so much more happy now, and we are teaching them as a couple now. It will be so much better now that they will be baptised together! ) We also painted a the house of a mamber (they really appreciated my height), and we helped Erendira make tamales to sell in her shop. 

Speaking of tamales, I am not a fan. I can eat two or three, but the members offer a whole plateful. It is a struggle sometimes to get through them ;) They are type of food cooked in a corn husk - I am still not sure what they are made of, the only answer I get is ´masa´. I am also not a fan of mole; it´s a type of sauce they put in meat that made of chocolate. It's really bitter ;) 

Hopefully we will have another baptism on the 15th! We have an investigator who is more than ready for baptism. 

We had a night and day experience on Wednesday with the 2 new investigators we found. 

The first was Jose Luis. He was standing in the street, and we passed him a few times going from house to house, and then decided to contact him when we couldn't find anyone. He had some free time, so he invited us in. It was a wonderful experience. He said he used to be Catholic, but had since seen the holes in some of the doctrine like worshiping images and the saints. We started teaching the first lesson, but then changed course, and brought out the Book of Mormon before we even talked about Joseph Smith. When Elder Bautista pulled out the book from his bag, we could feel that he felt something. We talked about how the Gospel blesses families, and about how important his family was to him,  so we promised him that if he read this book and followed what is said, he could live with his family even after death (he is a grandfather, I believe). I had an interesting experience. I saw Jose Luis as if he were Grandpa Fillingim, sorta. I actually started crying a little in the lesson, and I realized how much the Book of Mormon really HAS blessed my family, and was able to share a simple and powerful testimony with Jose Luis. I have a really strong desire to help him receive that gospel. He has the same light in his eyes, and like Grandpa, I know that he can quit smoking too. I can just see him as a temple worker. I hope that I have what it takes to bring him into this gospel. He was so excited to read the Book of Mormon, and I feel he is ready to receive this Gospel. 

Later that day we taught a man named Felipe. It was totally the opposite. The entire time was him talking about his doubts about religion, and about technology (he even brought up the movie Terminator) and how it is overrunning the world, about money, about how there was no way that me and my companion are both descendants from Adam and Eve, looking so different, and on and on. We have another appointment with him Wednesday... hopefully we can actually teach something. 

We also had a training for all the new missionaries, and did a lot of practices. I was asked to give the opening prayer, and was told afterwards by President Bird that I sound like a Mexican ;) We ended the training by watching parts of a talk by president Eyring and Jeffery R Holland about the Atonement and Missionary Work are related. It was really powerful.  

I am even teaching lessons in my dreams at night :)

Well, those are the highlights of the week ;)

I Love you all so much, and I miss you all too!

With Love, 

Elder Redford

First Baptism & MTC Pictures

                                                   Baptism - Saturday, January 25, 2014

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

 Elder Aguilar and Elder Ramirez, Hna and Hno Villasana (who is the ward Mission Leader), me (can you tell? ;) ) Erendira, her daughter Brenda, Edgar (whom I baptised), Elder Bautista (mi compañero), Elder Needham (Elder Bautista´s trainer), Hna Mary Delgado, 2 daughters I believe of the Villasana Family, Elder Tenorio (Comp of Needham), Hno Rafa Delgado, Peluchón their dog (who follows us everywhere), Edgar (not the Edgar I baptised ;) a recient convert), Rosalinda Marthell (an investigator whom we plan to baptize 8 Feb! ), and Hna Ortiz, the wife of the Bishop.

                                             Elder Redford with Companion at Provo MTC

                                                            Provo MTC Mission District

January 27, 2013

Wow. Thank you all so much for your email! I can truly feel your love from here, and it is strong :) 

Holy cow Megan, you have read a lot so far!  

Thank you Haylee for your Love pictures ;) 

This Saturday was great. I had my first baptism! Erendira and her son Edgar were baptised this past Saturday at 5;30 pm. They were really excited, and really ready for it too. I felt really happy to hear Edgar say that he wanted me to baptize him. And it was in Spanish too! I had to baptize him twice, because his foot popped up  ;) 

My Companion Elder Baptista was able to baptise his mother, Erendira. She needed up swallowing some water, and came up chocking. She was ok though, and could still feel the peace and happiness of the Spirit. We forgot to practice with them beforehand, which was our bad.  

And yes, we had an indoor font with warm water :)

We also plan on having another baptismal service for another investigator on the 8th of February!

Attached is a picture that we took at the baptism. I love it so much, because 

almost everyone I have grown to love is in it.  

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

 Elder Aguilar and Elder Ramirez, Hna and Hno Villasana (who is the ward Mission Leader), me (can you tell? ;) ) Erendira, her daughter Brenda, Edgar (whom I baptised), Elder Bautista (mi compañero), Elder Needham (Elder Bautista´s trainer), Hna Mary Delgado, 2 daughters I believe of the Villasana Family, Elder Tenorio (Comp of Needham), Hno Rafa Delgado, Peluchón their dog (who follows us everywhere), Edgar (not the Edgar I baptised ;) a recent convert), Rosalinda Marthell (an investigator whom we plan to baptize 8 Feb! ), and Hna Ortiz, the wife of the Bishop. 

This Friday was great. It was my first Intercambio.... hmm... I don´t know the word in English :P ... Companion Exchange I believe. Our District Leader was my companion for a day. I stayed in my area with Elder Hood our district Leader, and Elder Baptista worked in Elder Hood´s area with Elder Nay, who is also a new missionary. Since I stayed here, I directed the the Area; in other words, I was in charge. At first I was really nervous, but it turned out to be really great. I learned that I could do a lot more than I thought I could. Elder Hood also taught me some things that really helped. Makes me want to be a more effective Missionary :) Not knowing the language isn´t much of an excuse anymore not to talk/teach/take initiative. I am still learning how to be a good teacher, and I know that I still have a long ways to go.  

This week we didn´t find a single new Investigator... We need to work on that ;) 

But yes, I have gotten better at contacting people in the streets. I can now do so completely on my own! My Spanish / confidence is up to par. Relying on the Spirit really helps. We also use Taxis to get around, and contact every taxi driver. It´s hard because they always say that that don´t have time and are always working, but I can maintain more or less a conversation with the taxi drivers now too.  

Learning and Speaking a Language has a lot to do with the Culture. I understand now why they say that you need to live in a country to really learn the language.  

The little motorcycles that they drive around here to deliver food sound just like our dune buggies/4Wheelers. A little nostalgic :) Already miss the day trips in the Mountains. 

And thank you so much for your letter, Dad. You say that you don´t know what to write, but you really do. I am really trying to lose myself in the work, and show that love to everyone. 

Thank you so much for your prayers. It means a lot to me. 

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ I love you all so much !!!!!!!

Missionaries at the MTC in Provo