Proper Grooming and Scorpions

This week we had lots of meetings. On Tuesday, we had an 'ending of training' meeting, where all the trainers and their sons attended. It was awesome to see the rest of my generation and how far we've come in only three months. Also, Elder Brewer was there!! We had a fun little reunion, I missed that guy. 

Wednesday, was Elder Jimenez' 21 monthiversary, and my 3 monthiversary was Thursday, so we bought a pizza and celebrated! Sad thing was, we were both sick that morning. I recovered pretty quick, but he's been sick all week. As a result, we didn't get to do a whole lot of work, which was a bummer. 

Thursday, a Seventy came to visit, Elder Salinas! Apparently the whole 'Dallin H. Oaks coming to visit at the end of the month' thing was a lie, he apparently visited at the beginning of October and we weren't told until later...but Elder Salinas was AWESOME! He met with my zone and two others on Thursday and talked a lot about how to be better missionaries. His wife also spoke and talked about proper grooming. Classic. It was a really inspirational and fun meeting, I gave the closing prayer! 

Friday, he met with the same three zones, plus the leaders of the stakes that they pertain to, so it was a nice big meeting! The main message was that the First Presidency has charged the Church in Mexico with becoming autosufficient. I love it!! It was a discussion meeting, so I stood up and spoke! Such a blessing that people can somehow actually understand most of what I say haha. Here in Mexico, there are lots of people that join the church because they want to get something out of it, but they don't give much. It's really sad to see because these generally go inactive. Part of the charge of the First Presidency is to become first autosufficient in your faith. This is so important! It's nice to know that someone else knows the Gospel is true, but how far is that going to get you? It may carry you through your life, but a testimony of someone else's testimony will not help you as much as your own can. If you know for yourself that the Church is true, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, etc, then you can not only receive more blessings in this life, but you can also bless the lives of others more effectively!! As we are autosufficent in our faith, we become better tools in the hands of the Lord; forget the manual screwdriver, let's use the electrical power tools!! 

My Spanish has gotten to the point where I came up with my very own, HILARIOUS Spanish joke! It's seriously so funny, I'll tell you all about it one day. 

Sunday was the Primary Program! It was so fun to hear the little kids sing and speak and direct the meeting! That's right, one of the primary kids directed it! All the kids were dressed in white and the girls had matching red bows with blue or yellow ribbons, and the guys had matching red ties with a blue and yellow stripe (for the primary colors). It was adorable, Mom, you would have loved it! 

I suppose I've made you wait long enough. TRANSFERS!! I'm staying and Elder Jimenez is heading out! My new companion will be Elder Gonzalez, from Guatemala! Dad, you might somehow know his family, I'm gonna find out! He's in my generation, so we're gonna greenie break each other! I'm excited! Elder jimenez is going to open a new area, be a district leader, AND train again! I'm gonna have a baby brother!! I will call him Jacob. 

I know I normally share scriptures at the end of my letters, but this week I'm gonna share a quote from our meeting with Elder Salinas. As he was bearing his testimony, he said this; 'The best way we show our love for someone is seen when we show our love for Christ.' BOOM. I love that! Lots of people feel love in different ways; for example, through receiving gifts, or service, or what have you. But EVERYONE can feel the love Christ has for them, which love works through His servants; us! If we love Christ, we DO those things that He asks us to do. We don't just sit around twiddling our thumbs, we get on our feet and ACT. As we serve, share, help, teach, testify, and invite others, we show our love for Christ and His teachings and they can feel it! I love that!! That's why I'm serving a mission; I want people not only to know that I love them, but more importantly that God does and that He has a plan for all of us. THAT is what's important. 

I love you all! Have a great week!! 

Elder Connor

1 & 2: The Stake President's son taught us how to make scorpions out of copper wire. So cool!! 

3: For our celebration, we made signs. His basically says (not a direct translation), '21 months down' and mine basically says '21 months left...' So clever, I know haha. 

1. Elder Brewer and I, reunited! Love this guy.

2 & 3. This is a fun little family whom I love, their kids are so funny and fun! Sarah, the kid on my left in the blue sweater is your age, in case you were wondering ;)

In Which Joseph is a Chef, a Boss, and a Birthday Shouter-Outer

First off, we celebrate yet another wonderful woman of valor (I know, my family's full of them), my sister Heather!! Heather is GREAT because she is an awesome teacher! I remember when she taught me piano and I am so very thankful that she did so! She is also GREAT because she knows how to have fun! Also, she is super strong because she likes to climb mountains all the time. Annnnd she's funny and takes care of my mission blog. I apologize for my ward's behavior, but we won't be having a ward party in your favor this weekend...but I will just party all week to try to even it out. Love you Heather! 

This week, my zone leader told me I got letters!...and then proceeded to forget to give them to me until yesterday haha. Shout out to Sister Rickel and my sister, Nicole, who's serving her mission in Washington State! 

I also made french toast this week! I didn't have the recipe, but I kinda just threw everything together, mixed it up, and it was delicious! I mean, I guess it's kinda tough to mess up french toast, but whatever, I feel cool. 

Last week was transfers (cambios), and both Elder Roura and Elder Brewer left! I was so sad! Our new elders are Elder Olivos, who trained Elder Brewer, and Elder Long. They're both pretty fun, we quote movies together, and they're pretty boss teachers. 

Thursday, I had to be in charge of everything; weekly planning, what we would do when plans fell through (and the did) and reporting to the mission leader. It was kinda tough, but it was good practice and I learned a lot! 

This week was pretty tough as far as lessons go, almost every time we went to someone's house, they either weren't there, or just didn't have time or whatever. As a result, we only had 6 all week. That was very sad for me, BUT we did a lot more contacting! One of the english speaking guys I mentioned last week, Roman Telles, stopped us again and told us when we could teach him. We didn't even have to ask! He's working really hard on setting up his new store, so he won't be available for a couple weeks, but after that, he's really excited to meet with us!

GENERAL CONFERENCE. Oh my goodness, how I love conference! I don't think I've ever been so pumped to hear the prophets speak. A little bit of this might be the fact that I could listen in English, but other than that, I was super excited!! And it did not disappoint! For those of you who don't know, General Conference happens twice a year, the first saturday and sunday of April and the first saturday and sunday of October. During this wonderful time, the leaders of our church, those who have been called of God as prophets in our time, speak to us, teach us, and help us understand better the will and word of God. IT is a wonderful time when we can feel the Spirit and gain a greater understanding on God's will for us! Here are some of my favorite quotes (I don't have time to look up the real ones, so these are just my notes. Sorry for paraphrasing); 

• When we think someone needs to pay for their sins, we must remember Someone already has (Christ) - Elder Boyd K. Packer, Saturday morning

• Salvation is not the result of divine whim, but similarly is not achieved by divine will alone; we must ACT! - Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Saturday morning 

• A testimony of the church is the MOST IMPORTANT thing we can gain in this life - President Deiter F. Uchtdorf, Saturday morning

• No sign outside the chapel building that says 'your testimony must be this tall to enter', all are welcome!! - President Deiter F. Uchtdorf, Saturday morning

•  

I have more, but that's what I liked from the first session. I'll send more from the later sessions in the following weeks!

Also, I finished the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi this week! Here's one verse from them that I'd like to share, found in 2 Nephi 16:9; 

'And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.'

I really like this, especially in light of Conference this past weekend. Many times, we hear the prophets word, but do not understand them, or seek to do so. Many times we see miracles happen or experience blessings, and then put them off as mere luck, or coincidence, or even skill. But this is wrong! When we hear the voice of the prophet speak, when we hear the Spirit whisper to our hearts (and it whispers to ALL OF US), we need to heed their words! If we don't understand them, we can ask for help through prayer and then, through diligent study. God expects us to ACT, not just sit around waiting for an answer. Given this, I really encourage all of you to study out the words of the prophets, both those of ancient times and the modern days. As we do so, we will gain a greater understanding of who God is and His infinite, never-ending, incredible love for each of us. 

I love you all, have a great week! 

Elder Connor

Me, Elder De La Cruz, and Elder Kleinman! They're also in my generation, really great elders!

1. A kid in my stake, Israel. He's pretty awesome, I've played some fun soccer games against him haha.

1. Me and the Stake President's son, Immanuel. Ladies, he's an RM of 22 years old, single, and willing to learn English! 

1. Elder Frederich and I. He came in at the same time as me from the Mexico MTC. He's a total stud and an awesome missionary! 

A Pizzeria, Blisters, and Isaiah

This week, I had two different guys come up to me that used to live in the US! While there, they both met with the missionaries and really enjoyed visiting with them, but for some reason never got baptized. As we were walking to appointments, they came up, stopped me, and told me they really wanted us to come teach them again! They gave us their phone numbers, haven't picked up yet, but I really don't want to give up on them. I've only called once, so I'm gonna try again a bit this week.

On Saturday, we had this awesome lesson with an Hermana Angela. She has three kids who all live far away, one of her daughters owns a pizzeria in New York. Her kids are members, but she isn't. We went to talk with her, and she has a Book of Mormon that she reads from regularly, and she prays too! She's really nice, a little stiff at first, she didn't smile very much. But I made her laugh once, don't remember what I said, but knowing me, it was probably pretty darn hilarious. So that was a score.

After meeting with her, we saw a guy across the street shoveling some dirt and decided to help him out. Turns out, he was the same guy we'd helped a few weeks previous! He hadn't wanted us to teach him last time, but when we asked this time, he said he'd like that! He doesn't live in our area, but he works here all day everyday, so we're gonna set something up during work hours. He's really cool, and says I speak really good Spanish (wow, really?), so I like him already haha. 

On Thursday, we played basketball with some of the church youth, and I got my jaw relocated. Not really, but one of the other players got me pretty good haha. The next day, we did some service at a less active's hair cuttery, tearing up her tile floor, and I got some nasty blisters. Love service haha. (Seriously though, love service)

On Sunday, I went on splits with Elder Brewer. We knocked on a bunch of doors and no one was ever home, but we got some good contacts, and it was fun. 

This week, I want to share a scripture from 2 Nephi 8:22-23. 'But Elder Connor, that's an Isaiah chapter!' Yes. It is. And I actually get it! Here are the verses: 

'Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over—and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over.'

'Now what the heck does that mean Elder Connor?' I really like these verses. Here's the thing; the cup that Isaiah mentions in these verses is the same cup as the one Christ 'drank' in Gethsemane: 'Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me.' This cup represents all the pain, sorrow, affliction, temptations, etc. of everyone in the world ever. Throughout our lives, we take little sips from this cup as we are tempted, afflicted, and punished by those who 'say to our soul, bow down.' But here's the beautiful part; Christ has drunk that cup. He has tasted my sorrows, and your sorrows, and everyone else's. And so, as a result, we don't have to drink it anymore during the eternities. If we choose the better part, choose to live as He would have us, and seek to be as He is - that is, perfect - that cup WILL be removed from us, when it was not for Him. We have the blessed opportunity to repent of any sin we may commit and to feel his love and comfort in any trial we experience, because He has already experienced it all. 

Things are great here in Mexico, lots of work to be done! I love you all! 

Elder Connor

That one time Joseph almost killed a Family Pet....And Happy Birthday, Mexico

Today is the birthday of Mexico! Yay! 

Shoutout to Sister Nicole Connor, who I received letters from this past week! She's the best sister missionary! 

This week was great, on Monday we had a zone conference, so I got to meet the rest of my zone! All Elders, all awesome. They're all really helpful and nice, super hard workers who know when and how to have fun! I'm talking a lot more in lessons and such, the language is still giving me trouble, but I'm learning everyday! Elder Jimenez and I have also started running a lot more, which surprisingly, I missed a lot haha. Things are good here.

left to right: Me, my trainer, and my grandpa! (his trainer)

On Thursday, we met a guy who had just come back from the US after living there for work for 3 years. Apparently, he had met with the missionaries while there, so he asked if we could meet with him! We're gonna find him again this week, I'm super excited for those lessons.

I also used my four generation pedigree chart this week! I honestly never thought I'd need it, but one of our recent converts asked about family history, so I showed him mine! It was a really cool experience, family history is such an important part of the Gospel. Do it! 

Funny story, on Friday we went to teach Sergio about the Book of Mormon (which turned out really well) and afterwards, I asked to hold his parakeet. It was in a cage outside, but he said it wouldn't fly away, so I went to pick it up. As soon as I had it out of the cage, it wiggled its way out of my hands and was gone! Turns out it was his mom's bird, another investigator...needless to say, I felt awful about it. Could things get worse? Well they almost did. As we were leaving, we found the parakeet...IN A DOG'S MOUTH. I ran up to the dog, yelling and kicking at it, and it dropped the bird. Amazingl, it was not only alive, but generally uninjured! Minus all the trauma we'd caused it. Elder Jimenez and I are still laughing about that story.

Saturday, the ward had a party to celebrate Mexico's birthday! It was so fun! Tons of food, lots of pretty legit cultural acts (dances, singing, machetes), and lots of Elders! About ten other elders from my zone had been there for a baptism, so we got to chat with them, which was super fun. I got tons of pictures, I'll send them.

The youth of our ward performed some dances, it was really cool! 

A couple weeks ago, the Elders (including me) were asked to give talks this past Sunday, on missionary work. I started mine this past Thursday, so I could get it all corrected by the other elders in my district, and spent a lot of time on it. When we arrived to church on Sunday, we found out that only Elders Roura and Brewer were giving talks...so I didn't have to give mine! It was a relief, but at the same time kind of a bummer...ah well, I'll save it for later. 

This week, I was reading in 1 Nephi 13:35, which says, 'For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thybrethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.'

I love this scripture! As members of the church, we believe the Bible to be the word of God. But since there have been so many translations, many of those words, those 'plain and precious' truths have been lost. But Heavenly Father and Christ knew that would happen, so Christ came to the Americas to teach those things to the Nephites. I often wondered why He taught the same things there that He did in the Bible, but now I get it. It wasn't just for them, it was also for us! For our time, to restore those lost truths to the world in a perfect form. 

The Book of Mormon was written for us, so we could know more perfectly the Word and Will of God. As we read it and follow the principles taught, we will become more like Him, which is always the goal.

I love you all! Pictures to come. Until next week! 

Elder Connor

I got a minion (they're speakers)! Despicable Me 2 is huge down here, I love it.

Week 1 in the Field!

Hello everyone! Here's the address to send me things!

Elder Connor

Mexico City Chalco Mission

Calle Porvenir No. 8

Colonia Centro

C.P. 56600 Chalco

Estado de Mexico

I'm alive! First, final MTC days. We sang on Sunday and it sounded great! I was really pleased with how it went and the Spirit was very strong! Funny story, one of the other Elders I roomed with, Elder Solano, didn't have enough room in his bags for all his things (I don't know how he got them out here), so he gave me a whole bunch of stuff, since I had more than enough space. Christmas came early, I got a few shirts, some shampoo, and an entire suit. And it fits. I almost cried. 

2 AM on Monday morning, I woke up and left the MTC. Any tears that may have been shed were because I was so tired. The flights were fine, we had a layover in Dallas for a couple hours, and then flew out to Mexico. When we arrived, we (there were two other Elders that came with) met with President and Sister Crickmore and their assistants. I love the President and his wife! They are so nice and funny! 

One thing I learned about Mexico when we left the airport is that I never want to drive here. Ever. I have never seen such unorganized, crazy driving in my life. It was insane. We made it to the Mission Office (by the Grace of God) and had interviews with President. The first thing he asked was how I would feel having a native companion who didn't speak much English...I said It'd be quite the learning experience and I would most certainly be happy with it (I wonder if he knows how terrifying that idea sounded). We then ate some food and went to a little house to sleep for the night with the other greenies. 

Tuesday, I met my trainer! His name is Eldr Jimenez, he's from El Salvador, converted when he was 13 (8 years ago), and he doesn't speak much English...it's actually a lot of fun though, we play lots of vocab games while walking to appointments, so I'm learning lots! He's super patient and has a great sense of humor, so I consider myself pretty lucky to have him! 

There are two other Elders in my district, Elder Rauro and Elder Brewer. Elder Rauro is hilarious, speaks even less English than my trainer, and he loves my ties. he offered to pay 500 pesos for one of them (about $40, but I declined). Elder Brewer is from Utah, and he's only been out here for 7 months, so he still speaks English (phew). He's a lot of fun too, we sing together a lot and he is really helpful with giving me tips to help me adjust. 

We've had lots of good lessons this past week, a lot of times people aren't home, but when they are, the lessons are (in general) great! I've discovered that little kids speaking spanish is one of the cutest things ever. It reminds of the little turtles in Finding Nemo; they're super cute, and I can hardly understand them at all haha. 

On Thursday, we went to visit this woman named Nina, only to learn that she had passed away just the day before. We went in and talked with the family for a bit, and then told them we'd come back later. That night, there was a funeral for her, and a few people were asked to say some words. When they opened it up for anyone to talk, I felt impressed to do so. Super nervous, I stepped forward and stumbled through the language, hoping that what I was saying would help these people feel the Spirit. I don't remember what I said, but I do remember a feeling of peace in the room and it seemed to have touched the hearts of those present. It was an incredible experience. 

Oftentimes while walking to lessons, we'll see people doing some sort of work in the streets like moving dirt or whatever. We stop as often as we can to help and people are so thankful! I love service!

Oh, one thing about Mexico; there are dogs everywhere. Like, so many dogs, they just walk around streets, on rooftops, in houses (!!), doing whatever they want. It's so weird. 

I've already tried a whole bunch of weird new foods, here's a list:

-Nopales (cactus)

-Tuna (it's a fruit that tastes like watermelon, but is actually good)

-Guayaba (another fruit that tastes delicious)

-Higos (Ee-gos, it's a fruit)

-Jamaica (a really good drink)

-Chinchuron (pig skin. yup. I wanted to throw up all day.)

Things are really different down here, but I like it. Not enough to live here again, but I really just like being here, spreading the Gospel. It's such a joyous work! I love you all, write me letters and things, I don't have a ton of time to respond to emails! 

Elder Connor