Agua Blanca

What's up my dudes! Solid week (and possibly my last) here in Macuspana! We had a bomb week, taught some dope lessons, set some more baptismal dates, and ended the week with a fun trip to a place called "Agua Blanca". 

So, let's start this off with some fun news... we have a baptism lined up for Sunday (Aranza)! Has only taken almost 6 months but finally I will be dressed in white. Only way this will fall through is if the mom decides she doesn't want to give her permission (so pray she does). We could have baptized her yesterday but we want to make sure we teach her really well. We had a lesson with her and her family and it was going really, really well until the grandma decided to pull up. Grandma was out here trying to find the "false doctrine" but we all know that she couldn't. While Hunter was showing the grandma scriptures from the Bible, I was talking with Aranza about The Book of Mormon. She asked me how many times I have read it and when I told her how many times she got a big smile on her face and said that she wants to do that too! She then asked me how I knew the church was true and I shared about when I visited Palmyra and walked in the Sacred Grove and how you can't deny the spirit there. When she came to church she told us she watched the Restoration video and loved it! This chick is about to be a solid member!

We put 2 dates with Aranza's sister and her mom. They weren't at church but we know they are liking the stuff we teach. We are still working with the grandma. She said to us "I like your church. I like your doctrine. I believe it is all true, but I don't know about baptism." What in the world grandma! It honestly is so funny to watch her try to argue with us haha. Here they believe a lot in Mary and basically worship her. She asked if we believe in her and if our "bible" had her in there. Sure enough we kindly opened to a verse that describes her as a virtuous woman. Grandma aint got nothin on this church! She is actually a really nice lady, don't get me wrong haha!

The last baptism date we set up was with the boyfriend of one of the members. Dude is a straight homie and loves the lessons. He didn't come to church but he is 100% getting baptized in the future. His name is Alein and is a way chill dude. 

This morning we visited "Agua Blanca" and it was so sick! It is just a place with waterfalls and caves. It is in the middle of nowhere but it was really pretty. We went with Elder Ortiz and Elder Cicerone and partied it up. We didn't have a flashlight in the cave so it was an adventure using our flash on our cameras to find our way around haha. It was a fun P-Day!

This week I have thought a lot about the first members of the church. We taught the restoration a few times this week and every time I teach it I gain a stronger testimony. I think about how faithful the first members were. I don't know if I would believe a 14 year old boy, but I am so grateful that my ancestors did! The church is so freaking true!

Love you all! 

Elder Wilde 

Zone Conference

When it rains it pours

Hello my friends! So my email title is both literal and metaphorical. A couple of days this week it was dumping rain and it was awesome/cold and there was even a frog that somehow got in the house! But, since we pushed through the rain, we got some blessings. We found some solid people to teach... and we may or may not have had a baptism fall into our hands!

Lets start of with our potential baptism. Her name is Aranza and she is 14 years old. Her cousins are all members and she decided to come to church the last 2 weeks and we didn't even know that she wasn't a member. After talking with her we found out she wasn't a member and that she is very, very interested in our message! We could baptize her this next Sunday but we are thinking about waiting until the following week so we can help her understand everything. I am praying that this will all work out because I am kinda craving a baptism haha!

Maria Esther, our investigator is still super interested, but we can't get her to come to church! We have taught her every lesson and we keep telling her that she needs to come to church to be baptized haha. She is such a sweet and nice lady and I know that she will be a solid member when she decides to come to church!

We found a brother and sister last week and this week finally taught them. The brother's name is Andrés (23) and the sister is Melisa (15). They are such good people and are super dope! Andrés knows a lot of English so I help him with that as he helps me with my Spanish. Melisa was nervous during the lesson because she didn't know all the answers to our questions so I said, "you're nervous? Picture me trying to speak Spanish to you guys!" and she got a good laugh out of that. I see lots of potential with these 2 and I am super excited to keep teaching them!

Now time for some fun stuff. I mentioned that a frog was in our house and I have no clue how it got in. We live upstairs in our house which means the thing had to hop up somethin'. I woke up and walked into the other room with my desk and saw a little green thing hopping around. I caught him and named him Richie, I later made a cage for him... and he escaped and is living somewhere in the house! Also, last night Elder Hunter and I got bored when we got home so we made a fort and played card games. I can thank Grandma Worthington for teaching me how to play Skip-Bo and Phase 10 because I kicked his butt! Then this morning we played basketball and a group of like 8, 13 year old boys came up to talk to me because they have never seen a tall white person play basketball. I ended up talking to them for a while while the other Elders played and got 3 contacts out of it so that's cool haha. 

I have been reading in the New Testament this week and have learned lots of great things! The thing I loved the most was a scripture that says something like, "Whatever thing you ask for in faith will be given". The Lord wants us all to succeed but we aren't going to be given stuff for free. We need to have faith and one of the parts of faith, is work. This was a nice little reminder with me and my Spanish and helped me to continue to study hard!

Love you all! 

Elder Wilde 

Richie

Our fort

Getting my hair cut by Elder Ortiz

Elder Hunter showing off his basketball skills in the street

ILYSB

Happy love week, lovers! Nothing I love more than preachin' the good ole word of Christ! Here is the deal, it was another slow week but I have a really good feeling about this next week. Maria Esther is our one baptismal date that is progressing the most and she promised me that she will be at church this Sunday! 

So, Thursday we did divisions with the Elders in Indeco. I was with Elder Ortiz in our area and Hunter went to Villahermosa to be with Cicerone. I was actually really excited for this day because I wanted to see where my Spanish was at. Elder Ortiz is one of the funniest dudes ever! He kept telling stories about the drunk guys in the mission and it was awesome! We tried to find new people to teach but it was a struggle. On the bright side, I totally was speaking Spanish and it was dope. Later that night we had an appointment with Maria Esther and we taught the commandments. When we got to the Word of Wisdom she was a little confused on why we can't drink coffee. I promised her that if she went a week without coffee she will receive many blessings. Because she always gives us Gatorade when we go over, I told her to replace the coffee with that! She made the deal that she would stop and then come to church this upcoming Sunday the 23rd because she couldn't come yesterday. This lady loves me so much and we are always cracking jokes! I also love teaching her because I actually understand her Spanish haha. 

Valentines Day was a special day. Hunter had the idea to wear matching ties, which I hated, but he said it was for "unity". We were walking to an appointment and it started pouring rain, like it was the heaviest rain I have ever seen. We showed up to the appointment and the girl we were teaching wasn't there. Afterwards we stopped by a members house to get some references and she only gave us one, but that is better than zero! She is also one of those people that wants me to speak perfect Spanish so we are always talking and she makes me teach her the lessons which is dope. Afterwards, we got home and made a Spaghetti dinner with Mountain Dew and candles. Holy cow it was awesome. I sang all of the LANY songs to Hunter and said that was "unity". He eventually told me to shut up and we read the Book of Mormon haha. 

I have been reading the book "Saints" and I am loving it. I love how cool those stories are of the first members of the church. Hunter and I had a good conversation and put ourselves in the shoes of the people during that time. It would be tough to see a 14 year old boy trying to tell you he saw Jesus Christ and God and that he needs to restore his church. The act of faith that the saints have is incredible! It is also cool to see that Joseph Smith wasn't some perfect guy, he sinned too. The atonement is even for the Prophet and I love that. The love that Jesus has for us is incredible and I am so grateful for that!

Love you all! Stay sweet!

Elder Wilde

Just a little rain storm ;)

Our Valentine's spaghetti dinner

Shattered My Entire Universe

Week who knows what in Macuspana and I'm still chillin. This week was a bad week and a good week. It was good because we set 2 more baptismal dates and found 11 more people to teach. It was bad because out of our 8 people we have in line to baptize, 0 came to church... it just shattered my entire universe. 

So, the one thing that is really tough here is telling people that baptism needs to be done by the proper authority. Candi (14) and Cytlali (23) are the 2 people we set dates with this week. Both are really good girls but they don't understand the whole authority thing. We explained to them both how Christ was baptized in a certain way because it's the right way and they don't listen haha it is tough. Candi asked what makes our church true and we talked about prophets and apostles and she totally felt that it was true... then she goes "but I like my church right now". Picture how frustrated we were haha!

Maria Esther and her son Alexis are our 2 most promising at the moment, but yet again, they don't understand the authority part. We explained receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands and she goes "I remember they did that when I was baptized in the catholic church". Duuuuudeeee it's so tough! They totally know it is true and wanna keep learning. 

Omar and Arturo cancelled on us every day we tried to visit and it is because their family hates us. We are going to visit them with the bishop someday and he is going to share his conversion story. He was in the same situation as these boys. 

The numbers show a really good week but we felt like it sucked. We are trying so hard to get people to progress and it is tough. We had a good companionship study this week and talked about Christ and how he knows EVERYTHING. He knows that we are trying our hardest to progress with these people and it hasn't been going how we want it. We have noticed that every time we study in the morning together and keep grinding and working we find people to teach. I have learned so much stuff this week and have felt the spirit strong! I love this church so much and serving here, even if it means I walk around sweating like crazy trying to find people. 

Love you all!

Elder Wilde 

Cutest Couple

Howdy pals! This week was awesome! First off, my comp and I get along really well and that has helped a lot. We like to talk in our hick accent and it is always a good time. Most importantly, we have 6 baptismal dates set up! 

So let's start with the baptismal dates:

1. Maria Esther and her son Alexis. We were looking for another person and we passed their house and I told Hunter we should go ask them for directions. We ended up contacting them on Tuesday and set the date on Wednesday. She is such a nice lady and her son is super cool too. Only problem is he has school in Villahermosa so it is tough to find him. During the lesson we asked if they had heard about our church and she said, "I know you guys worship Will Smith or something like that." I thought that was funny.

2. Omar and Arturo. I talked about them last week if you don't recognize the names. We taught the Plan of Salvation and Arturo was freaking pumped when we told him the Celestial Kingdom is like the sun haha. It was tough to find Omar but we finally did on Friday. He told us how he talked to his parents and said he wants to be a member, but they didn't like that because they are super catholic. All we have to do is talk to his parents and he can be baptized. At least that is what I am hoping and praying for. Please keep them in your prayers, especially his parents. I am hoping they will have an open mind and their hearts will be softened when they hear our message. 

3. Claudia and Luis. This is a funny one. We found Luis in the park with his buddies and contacted them. We have set up dates to go visit all of their families so we can gain that trust. We were joking around acting like we spoke Chinese and the kids really thought that we did so now they are always saying "how do you say _ in Chinese?" and it is hilarious. Claudia is the mom of Luis and she loves us... a lot. I set the baptism dates with them and talked about goals and I later asked what her goal is. She said, "to have my daughter marry Elder Hunter." Not sure that one is going to happen, but it’s good to have goals I guess. 

We also found 14 new people to teach so this was a good week. I think we were so successful because of my nice beard I had. On Wednesday I forgot to shave and we set 2 baptismal dates and found 6 people so Hunter told me I wasn't aloud to shave. Fear the beard! (Know that I am kidding dad. If you know me then you know that I can’t even really grow a beard)

I titled the email "cutest couple" because we have been told how “cute” we are. Hunter made the joke saying, "we need to use our looks to get in the door.” I also named it that because we get along so well. We are literally the same person even though he hates country music. 

This week was awesome and I am so pumped to keep working here! Love you all! 

Elder Wilde

It's a lot easier ordering Sushi in America than it is in Mexico

The Church is True

Transfer week! So I am staying in Libertad and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Hunter and he is a homie! He was just a zone leader and is a hard worker! The church is true my dudes. Elder Montes got a new companion. His name is Elder Perez and he is from the Dominican Republic and he likes baseball so.... my life is good, really good. 

I'm gonna start with a funny story. This week we went to a members house, his name is Daniel. He just moved here from Villahermosa and is a good dude. He was talking to me and I was understanding everything. He then said something that I didn't understand, so I asked him to repeat it. He then said, in perfect English. "I am from the United States and speak English, I just wanted to see how much Spanish you spoke." What the freak dude that caught me off guard! Anyways, the dude hooks it up fat with food and stuff. Really good guy. 

I'm not sure if you guys remember Omar (investigator from soccer activity). This week we taught the first lesson to him and his cousin, Arturo. The lesson was so good! I basically taught it by myself so that was fun haha. When we gave him the Book of Mormon I explained a little about Jesus Christ visiting the Americas and he was so interested in that! With a big smile on his face he said he was gonna read 3 Nephi 11 and then pray about it! Lets just say these last few weeks were a little slow for me, but when I saw the joy in Omar, I was so happy. We are going to return this week and I am praying that he continues to progress. 

 This letter is short because this week was a little slow. Love you all!

Elder Wilde 

The new Crew! Me, Elder Hunter, Elder Montes, and Elder Perez

Me and Daniel

Roping is a lot harder than it looks. I sucked at it!

 Arturo trying to teach me how to rope

Chillin' with Omar

One of the Elders gave me this coconut. He knew how much I love baseball! 

I'm the Captain Now

Hello everybody! This week was awesome! I took charge and called the shots this week. I was sick of reporting 0's every week haha. Well, we found 18 new people so I think it was pretty successful. Lots of really cool experiences too so get ready!

We will start off with divisions on Wednesday with Elder Garff. He is the President's Assistant and is such a homie! With him we found 8 new people and it was awesome. It is always nice to have someone to talk to. He stayed the night with us and we may or may not have been up until 2 talking haha. He is a really good dude and taught me lots of things. 

The next day, I had 2 really cool experiences. The first was in a combi (mini bus). Because I was tired from the night before I used this as an opportunity to take a 10 minute nap. Well during my "nap" I heard the little voice everyone knows (the spirit). All I heard was "speak". Well my first thought was, "no Carter, you don't know Spanish." Well then again, "speak". I started to get nervous and I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw on my left a guy reading the Bible on his phone and in front of me was his wife and their baby. Again, "speak" and I knew I would regret this opportunity so I spoke. I talked to the guy and wife for about 3 minutes before we had to get off for an appointment. I understood everything and was able to share why I am here in Mexico and then a short testimony. Didn't get his name or number but when I got out of the combi I felt like I did everything I needed to do. 

That same night we visited a dad and son who are inactive. 2 more people walked out and were about to leave. Well, you can always count on the spirit to help you out. "speak". This time I didn't hesitate and started talking. So it turns out, I can speak Spanish. Like it's not good but they understand me and I understand them. I was able to find the common interest with him and it was baseball. Of course he was a Dodgers fan so I was teasing that they couldn't beat the Cubs. As I got the friendship going then I was a missionary. I told him about us and then set up an appointment. (we were gonna visit yesterday but he wasn't home so we are going back tomorrow). 

Now this experience happened Saturday and it might be my favorite. I don't know if you guys remember David from my last email. Anyways, we had gone by his house almost every day last week trying to teach him but there is always and excuse on why they can't. We had the thought of giving up, then I remembered that mama didn't raise a quitter. We stopped by and they let us in. We taught the first lesson and holy crap the church is true. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life. His grandpa had a few doubts about the Book of Mormon. Well, I bet you can't guess what happened next... the holy ghost. I talked... and my Spanish was almost perfect. I honestly don't remember what I said but I remember saying something like this; "You might wonder why a tall white boy keeps coming to your house, well here is the answer. I left my home in Utah to come and share the Gospel with the people in Mexico because I know our message is true. I am learning this language and am constantly coming by your house because I love you." Well I made tears come out of their faces. We asked David to say the closing prayer and he couldn't finish because he broke into tears. Well that made me cry too... I'm such a softy. 

None of them came to church. If you look at the numbers for our week and see that we had no investigators at church you could think it was a crappy week again. It wasn't. Best week of my life I'll tell ya that. 

Love you all so much!

Elder Wilde 

Drank my first coconut water. It was weird, but not bad.

Me and Elder Garff. He looks pretty fresh in my Cubs gear.

At my desk studying

Interviews with the President. Elder Lopez (top left) Elder Montes (top right) Elder Cicerone (bottom left) Elder Wilde (bottom middle) Elder Fogg (bottom right)

Bus ride home from interviews. Elder Montes snoozing.