I Completed 7 Months This Week!

Howdy y’all!

Crazy to see that it’s been up over 105 3 or 4 days this past week.  Summer has definitely hit here in Ensenada but nothing like 105.  It’s usually around 90 or 95 here with the ocean breeze.  Next Monday are transfers and I have a feeling I’m headed out of here so if you don’t hear from me next week it’s because I am on the road somewhere.  I completed 7 months this week and who knows where time has gone??

This week for work was super slow.  Things have really slowed down . . . we have 2 or 3 investigators that are so so and we aren’t receiving references from the members so its been rough this past week.  We realized that we were focusing in too much on having a bunch of lessons and not in finding.  So yesterday in the ward council meeting we changed the ward mission plan and told the whole ward that we are going to start teaching them the lessons and if they don’t have someone in mind for us to teach we are going to say a prayer and go to knock on their neighbors doors.  Ha it’s an interesting way to work and the members are super surprised when we just straight up tell them we are going to say a prayer and ask that we have the Spirit to help us know with what neighbor and what to say.  It’s actually pretty effective and keeps the members involved.  I am super convinced this is how the Lord wants us to work.  It benefits everyone both missionaries and members.  This is the way to work in ALL of Mexico now.  Baptisms sure have gone down but tithing has gone up and our mission has like 68% retention which is the highest in all of Mexico.  We are definitely seeing results here in the mission.  

Can’t remember if I shared this story or not earlier but I am going to share it anyways.  We went to find a friend of a member up in the hills 2 weeks ago.  She wasn’t home and we ended up chatting with a man of about 55 years.  He had spent time in jail and had been involved a bunch with drugs.  But he was super friendly and we started chatting.  He asked us if we really believed that Christ came to the Americas and of course we told him yes and we have the evidence of it.  He pretty much told us that that was BS and that we were crazy.  The best thing we can do when it comes to when people don’t want to listen to us it just bear our testimonies and tell people that we have read the Book of Mormon and why we came on the mission.  If they really listen to what we say it’s a promise we have that they will feel the Spirit and realize that it wasn’t true.  So Elder Vargas and I did that but he didn’t listen to us.  He began to tell us that we shouldn’t tell people that we know our message is true or bear our "testimonies" because that is the cause of all confusion.  To me it was the voice of Satan.  It discouraged me for a sec but I bore that man my testimony like never before.  He still wanted nothing to do with our message but whatever.  I was jacked and my testimony had never been stronger before.  It says in Preach My Gospel that logic can never deny a heartfelt testimony.  

We also taught an atheist this past week that pretty much just told us that there isn’t God and we are crazy for teaching about him ha.  Never ever has my testimony been stronger that this is the Lord’s church and that Satan will do WHATEVER possible to bring it down.  Have it to be with gays or drugs or whatever.  

Be sure to read the Book of Mormon everyday and say your prayers PLEASE :) it really makes a difference when we do the small things!!

Mom don’t sweat the luggage.  I can deal with hauling my stuff around for a day.  If President doesn’t respond, don’t be surprised just because he is super busy.  I’ll talk with him this week to see what we can do to get that luggage here.  If there is nothing we can do then I’ll just have to deal with it :)

Keaton enjoy your baptism buddy!  I did everything I could to try and have a baptism this week but it’s not gonna happen :(

Also enjoy the 4th of July for me! That’s my favorite holiday by far and I am going to be in Mexico but its all good!  I have been looking for fireworks but haven’t found nothing.  Ha we will be busy working anyways!

Enjoy these pictures of me and the view in Ensenada :) 

I spent Tuesday in Maneadero which is about 30 minutes south of Hidalgo.  It reminded me a lot of Levan as it’s just small town with a bunch of farm land.  Super pretty too!

This is the size of the spiders we killed this week during a service project.  We had to move a bunch of rocks around and they were all camped out underneath.  Super gross!!

I love you and miss you very much! Take care and enjoy the heat.  Rumor has it that I’m headed to Mexicali next week but who knows?  If so I’ll be in 130 degree everyday :) ha have a good one!

Elder Roper