Mateo in MEXICO: Cambios and chances to learn and grow

CAMBIOS

Okay so we JUST GOT CAMBIOS LIKE AGAIN. It’s kind of like, SLOW DOWN, but it’s also, whatever, and perfectly fine.

The good news is that my companion and I, are STAYING in Quetzaaaal. Woooohooo. That is good. I didn't want to change because we have lots of good things going for us here. And two, I didn’t want to change because I LOVE the people. It’s a good ward.

The bad news is that I was just called to be DISTRICT LEADER. odigfifdhsnfugirt. You know, its not really bad news... But it is a tweee-bit interesante. I mean I kind of called it as a joke, and then my joke came true. But it’s fine. I am excited. One, because it will help me grow and learn.. Two, because District Leaders can make or break a District... I really have so much respect for all of the District Leaders I have had. All of them have been amazing examples to me. So now I just get to return the favor to the missionaries in my District. I mean I don’t think I can measure up to Elder B., Elder P., or Elder R.... But I think I can steal some of their humility, work ethic, and love to spread it around a bit.

Who knows how this will turn out. But I am going to definitely try my best.

District Leaders are in charge of reporting every Sunday. So missionaries report to the District Leader for a bit of time after church, talk about the week, figure out how we can do better, find out what help we need, etc. Then the District Leaders go to report to the Zone Leaders about the whole District. Then all the numbers go from the Zone Leaders to the Assistants and to the President. It is a system. I am only a bit worried because I get the feeling that my Zone Leader doesn’t like me too much, but all is well. THEN every Monday night we have our District meetings for 2 hours. I am in charge of teaching according to the needs of the District and planning practices to do. I hate practices. BUT I guess I need to start loving them.. hahaha. I am also supposed to do baptismal interviews. I am actually most excited for that because I imagine that being a really cool spiritual experience. I hope I can do all of these things with Christ-like attributes. I just see, over and over again, people getting power hungry, super strict, or super entitled. My plan is to avoid those things.

So yeah I might be a little bit stressed about all the responsibility I have now been given, but I think it’ll be good for me. The coolest thing is that Elder W. and G. are both going to be District Leaders too! I love that we are from the same generation, get along so great, and basically do the exact same things at the same time. Also W. is coming to the ward that attends my same church building! So we will see each other all the time! And when we report we will be together!! It’ll be so sweet.

Anyways. I will let you know how this week goes. Pray. This week was super good. We had lots of great lessons, ate yummy food, found many new people, AND had a beautiful baptism! The baptism was for M. C. – he is the grandpa that I love. So my comp and I went super early that day to clean the nasty font and fill it up with equally nasty water. It was a success. We finished right in time for the baptism, which was supposed to start at one. BUT the only person that got there at one was GRAMPS. I was like uuuuhhhhhh thanks for coming to your baptism. Guess we will wait for the ward and your family. Anyway, long story short, we waited for like an hour and a half for people to show up- Mexican standard time. It’s a real thing. LOL. The magical thing was that everyone eventually got there at the same time... Even though it wasn’t planned. So they all know how they think and they just show up when they think is best. It’s a true talent. The family went all out. ALL OUT. It was like a wedding. There was SO MUCH FOOD. There were tablecloths and flowers as center pieces and just so many people all decked out. It was hilarious. Luckily I got them all to hurry up and take pics so we could start the baptism. When we started the whole room was full. It was such a great spirit with all the members and non-members that came. When Gramps went in the water with my comp to get baptized he immediately was like "uno... dos... tres..." and was about to dunk! HAHA. We were all like NOOOOO. Then he was like oohhh, and got that my comp was going to say the prayer first and then he got in the water. FIRST TIME and it was done. Those are the best. Then I sang a song and luckily it brought a really cool spirit into the baptism. Plus the acoustics are really good in that room so I was pleased... haha. Then we ate food partied and had to leave cause we had citas. But I guess people stayed there until 7 PM, aayyy. That family is a hoot. Our two new converts received the priesthood this Sunday and they are both preparing to bless the sacrament on Sunday. The best is that they are close in age and are like bffs already. Love them.

The rest of the week was good. I can’t remember specifics though... Good lessons. Good spirit in the lessons. We are preparing three people for baptism. Two are family members of Gramps... His wife and his son. The other is another older guy... Unfortunately, we just found out he is only married in the Catholic Church... which is a bummer, because in Mexico everyone has to get married twice if they want a legal marriage and a religious marriage. He only got the religious one. So we have to tell him this week that he has to wait until he can get married by a civil judge. Hopefully he can do it quick. Crossing fingers.

We had a great couple drop us this week. It was super sad. I didn’t see it coming... Hopefully they can feel prompted to talk to us again soon because they are investigating other churches. I have a feeling the other missionaries from another church talked to them and tricked them into stopping talking to us because they "need to learn more about the old and new testament before they should start learning about the Book of Mormon". It was like a scripted break up. Argh. Oh well.

We are two missionaries in the ward, so that means we have the big area all to ourselves. AAAYYY. I don’t like walking so much. My other areas we were able to take buses to places, but here it is walk or pay to take taxis. I want a bike.

We still haven’t moved. We found a house, and President is talking to the owner trying to work things out so we can go there. Maybe in the near future we can move. Who knows? It is going to stink to have to move...

Anyways this email isn’t very exciting, but I can’t remember anything else that happened. Oh yeah, we are teaching English classes now. And that’s it. I think it will be good to find new investigators. Wooohooooo. Service.

Love you guys so so much. I will send pics soon. Miss y’all. Glad you enjoyed October break. Can’t believe that already happened. I can’t believe it is time for Christmas hymns. jajaja.

Con Amor, Elder Macdonald