We Will FINAAAAAAALY Be Having A Baptism

Hey, Happy Memorial Day!!

Mom, remember when we won the Memorial Day Tourney in Alpine that one year with Coach Mike?? Dad came home on leave right to watch?? I remember in the first game I hit a double and  was hesitant, but Mike waved me around and I got thrown out at third base ha. Crazy how I remember that all?? This time of year really makes me miss baseball. I wish I could play again someday! Who won the State Tourney back home? Too bad to hear that the high school got knocked out. Hopefully Hayden has the chance to play for state someday :) 

So, Wednesday I complete 18 months and I don’t quite know what to think. Time has absolutely flown by.  We went downtown to the offices again this week to return my comp's passport and for the second straight week I didn’t know anyone there - all the new missionaries!! It’s weird because when the members ask me how much time I have down here and I tell them 18 months and they say wow you’re pretty much outta here ha. I’ll start tellin ‘em I only have 6 months so they tell me I have a lot to go ;) I will be in interchanges with Elder Vasquez who is also completing 18 months the same day so we will have to see what kind of party we come up with :) And Mom its okay that summer break passes by quickly because I will be home shortly after :) If you look at it that way it will be better right? :)

The work has been the same this week. We asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting in two weeks so we can chew some butt :) Just not a whole lot of support and its rough because that’s the way we work down here in Mexico these days. We don’t have a Ward Mission Leader and there hasn’t been one for about 4 months, so we are literally working alone. We had a ward activity on Friday to celebrate Mothers Day and that really helped us because we could see who was befriending the investigators and those who didn’t do squat. So we have a better idea now who can help us. The family we are teaching all went to the party on Saturday but mysteriously didn’t show up on Sunday :(

The good news is that we will FINAAAAAAALY be having a baptism next Sunday afternoon. We have been working with a less active and the dad realized that he was losing his family, life, work and what not by not going to church. So he went back on Sunday, asked for a calling, and pulled us aside to ask us when we could prepare his 2 kids to be baptized this upcoming week. Man we were so happy! So we will be breaking that streak this week! Hopefully that opens the door to more baptisms!!

Ha so this morning we were getting ready to leave to go down town and we got a call from a 801 SLC number...I jumped out of my chair to answer! It was a sister missionary that has been talking with Antonio for about 2 weeks straight. She just asked why he haven’t been visiting him and that he sincerely wants to change his life and feels super bad because he is so lonely and what not. So we had to explain to her that we had done everything possible to baptize this guy and get him to stop drinking and she wasn’t having any of it hahaha. Is that how sister missionaries are in SLC?? She asked us to give her updates daily using a computer and what not and we just had to explain to her that we are in the old world where we don’t have iPads and cars and we do things the old fashioned way hahahah. So we are gonna go visit him tonight to see what happens or if he has changed. Maybe that’s why we can’t find anyone because the Lord wants us to baptize this guy...who knows?? 

I sent a package home with Cory this week. It has a shirt and pants with the tags in the pocket and a lil letter to explain why :) Cory spilled the beans and said you were getting a package ready as well so I’ll be lookin forward to that :) Actually the picture with the gringo with the guy is Cory. He is great guy and helps us out a lot!

Well, that is it for this week!  Have a good one and Happy Memorial Day!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Roper :) 

This Week Was Straight Up ROUGH!

Hey, how you are all?? Looks like you are all doing well! Love the pics that you all sent this week! It looks like everyone is doing well :) The garden looks great! For some reason I didn’t remember that they were going to be building houses in the field . . . that’s great though! When do they start building? Hayden I hope you enjoyed your birthday! Sorry I didn’t get anything in the mail this year. We have been busy! And I thought my Oakley’s were off limits? ;)

So I’m not gonna lie, this week was just straight up ROUGH! I guess we all pass through them though right? We went back on Monday to see Antonio and he was super drunk.  We went back on Tuesday and he wasn’t home and didn’t answer his phone. There isn’t much we can do anymore for him ha. Poor guy.

We are teaching another family of 7 that are great. They are really the only people we have progressing right now. The bright side is that the husband and wife decided that they are going to be married the wife will be able to be baptized. The husband is very catholic and thinks its okay that he was baptized as a kid and that his kids don’t need to baptized again. So it’s an uphill battle but we will see what happens. We are teaching another lady whose son is a member. But she is very Catholic as well but is starting to understand the apostasy and why the BoM is so important and why she needs to be baptized. She actually accepted to be baptized but says she wants more time to learn. The appointments with her are always interesting because her husband is super catholic as well and does not let us or anyone talk so he and his son always end up arguing doctrine even though both have no idea what they are talking about. And then there we are trying to get this lady to accept a date to be baptized. Ha it was hectic. I had to tell my companion to shut up because he got all riled up and was not gonna leave without that baptismal date. Needless to say . . . this sister wasn’t havin any of it.  So the fact that I told elder Celis to shut his mouth didn’t please him and we went off on each other after the lesson hahaha. It was super hot that day and we were super stressed out so we just let everything go. It’s the first time I can remember getting in a serious argument with one of my companions ha. We got everything worked out in the morning and started working as if nothing had happened. It gets frustrating sometimes, but what can you do? We all have different ideas right?

So that’s pretty much the low down for now. We haven’t received a referral from members here in over 3 weeks so we are struggling . . . thats how its been for the past 9 weeks now - just gotta keep going!

What else? The moon looked super cool the other night! 

The last cupcake I ate was untouched in the delivery. Thats what it looked like when it got to me!

Well thats about it . . . sorry for being so short. Same story-different week ha.

Mom we won’t have another zone conference until the middle of June or so. I am fine on stuff. I could use some more crystal light packets, but please don’t send the pomegranate flavor :)

I love and miss you all!

Elder Roper :)

You All Got The Lowdown Last Night

Hey, you all got the lowdown from last night's Skype call, so here are some pictures from the week :)

We got bored and I started daydreaming . . . gazin’ into the other side ;)

Me opening the heaven sent cupcakes! :)

More cupcake pics and the care package that they sent me from the contest you won mom :)

Here is Elder Estrada as well. He is doing a lot better. He is going home tomorrow for 3 months and will come back to the mission as soon as he is able to walk well. We had to go the mission offices today so Elder Celis could go get his visa taken care off. I stayed there chatting with Elder Estrada and Elder Ivins - both are doing well. Elder Estrada had to go to the hospital to get some x-rays taken care off and Sister Carreon asked me to go with and I gladly accepted. It was fun to be able to catch up with him and see him before he goes home to recover. Definitely one of the best companions I have had. I decided again that being a doctor isn't for me ha. He had to have some stitches pulled out from his wrist and he was in pain. I was able to watch this time, but I can’t imagine doing that with my own hands ha. So who knows what I’m gonna study???? It was good to be with him and Sister Carreon for a bit. 

Great Week!

Hey, how are you all?

My testimony is stronger than ever that Satan only wants us to be miserable like he his. He will do all possible to destroy our families. My companion and I have been talking a lot about that lately. In the April Ensign there is an article that talks all about morality and how to protect ourselves. It also draws the line very clearly about the law of chastity. Read it - if you haven't already :) It talks about how none of us are strong enough to be able to withstand the temptation alone. We are ALL vulnerable. Even the great king David, a man of God and king fell and look what happened to him. He lost everything! In my interviews with President Carreon he has always told me that I have to take care of myself. He said that is the main reason why they still don’t allow us to have iPods in the mission down here. That even though they are a great tool and a big help, the risk is too big. That there have been many missionaries who have purchsed iPods to have Facebook and music and what not but they always end up confessing problems with porn. A lady in General Conference said that pornography is stronger and wickeder than it has ever been.  It makes me a bit scared for the future, but I know the Lord will help us and protect us. And Mom like you said the Lord is hastening His work but Satan is as well. In Jacob 7 it talks about that, That Sherem, Satan's “homie” lets say, worked diligently to lead the hearts of many away from the truth. We, as well, must be diligent in keeping ourselves clean and happy. The best way to do that is by reading the Book of Mormon. Whenever I have had bad thoughts come to mind the best thing I could do was read the Book of Mormon and quickly those thoughts leave. The Book of Mormon really is a powerful book and will keep us safe if we will just only read a little bit everyday!

Here is a home depot story to make you all laugh from this week. On Tuesday, Elder Manis came with me to work in my area. We had a good day of work. But from the second I woke up Tuesday morning my stomach was hurting. So I knew it would be an interesting day to say the least :) We ate and everything was normal. And like 5 minutes after we left it hit me hard!! hahahahah we went running to the nearest member's house possible and I let her rip. The bad thing though was that her toilet was a bit different. It didn’t have a tank and a handle to let water in and flush it all down. So I had to fill a bucket with water a pour it the bowl in such a manner that it flushed, But, I could not get the job done. So I had to tell Elder Manis in English the problem and the dude saved my life! Ha we went back to pee and got the problem taken care of :) Gotta love Mexico :)

So, its was a way better week. Elder Celiz is a great guy and a great companion. Mom, he is the elder from last week in the picture :) We found a bunch of people to teach this week and things are looking better. You will all be happy to hear that Antonio called us back and told us to go see him. That he has gone about 15 days without drinking and is doing a lot better. He is on date for the end of May but I don’t want to jinx anything, so I keep it at that :)

We found another family of 9, yes 9, that will progress as well. They all went to church yesterday so we are very happy. We just have to keep it going now!

Mom, you asked about Cory. Ha he told me yesterday that you had had contact with him and was a bit skeptical right? :) hahaha that made me laugh. But yes Cory is the secretary to the bishop of the ward I am in. He married a Mexican lady and they have 4 kids and they live down here in Mexico. He works on the other side in San Diego. I know you think that is weird but its actually pretty common and actually kind of a good deal. Because the dollar is worth more than the mexican peso if they pay you in dollars you are rich down here in Mexico. There are quite a few members who live here in TJ and work in San Diego. He is a great guy though and more willing to help out with cupcakes :) Mom it doesn’t matter how they get here - it just matters that they get here! Thank you very much! I am excited!!! :) It’s been 18 months without Momma's cupcakes!

So, we will be Skyping again in 6 days...where has the time gone?? We will be calling from our neighbor’s house. We don’t get out of church until about 3:30 and we will be done eating around 5 o’ clock. My companion will call first because of the time difference in Chile and I will call after. It won’t be until around 7pm my time. So 8 around home. I hope you will all be awake!! I am excited to see and talk to you all. And in 6 months time it will be for real!!

As for the pancakes . . . you didn’t like them?? Everything here is sweet, so maybe I have gotten used to it. But they are great!! ha I love em!

Well,  I love and miss you all. Take care and see you Sunday!! Oh and Happy Mother's Day Mom! Love you!

Elder Roper :)